Community
At the Rafferty Community Center ribbon-cutting, the former Seahawk credited coaches, parents and a grandfather for who he became, then asked Northwest Florida’s leaders to do better.
Former Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin used the ribbon-cutting for the Rafferty Community Center on Tuesday to make a plea to Northwest Florida: stop overcomplicating things and spread love.
- Baldwin, 38, came up through the Southern Youth Sports Association (SYSA) and was honored along with the Rafferty family as a major contributor to the new facility. He opened by saying he doesn’t like the spotlight, then spent most of his time thanking the people who put him in it.
Love is the Foundation
Baldwin said SYSA is built on hope, but “one step below that” is love. He said the program showed him and other young men that they had value “more than what the world had told us.”
“It’s not as complicated as you make it out to be.”
Coaches first. Baldwin thanked a long list of SYSA coaches by name and reminded the crowd that the building is only four walls without the people who built the culture inside it. He recalled being an arrogant 14-year-old volunteering at the Salvation Army gym and testing a coach’s patience.
A Family of Service
Baldwin traced his own path through the people who raised him:
- Both grandfathers served, one in the Air Force and one in the Navy. Baldwin joked that Gulf Breeze sat in the middle, which is why he grew up “on the other side of the bridge.”
- His father spent 35 years with the Pensacola Police Department, which Baldwin said took courage, bravery and integrity for a Black man in the South. He also recalled his father rebuilding a burned-out 29-foot cigar boat with his bare hands.
- His mother worked at the Salvation Army, volunteered with SYSA and worked in the medical field. Baldwin said she stayed up late prepping game pamphlets and made sure kids got snacks at the concession stand.
- His maternal grandfather showed up to every game. After a hurricane wrecked the press box, bleachers and part of the concession stand at the old community center, Baldwin said he rebuilt them by hand. Baldwin says they are still standing.
“They didn’t see themselves as the saviors. They saw themselves as the service.”
Baldwin said it meant a great deal to help dedicate the courts to his grandfather, Junius Boling, whom he called the most influential person in his life to this day.
The Ask
Baldwin told the leaders in the room they still carry influence and authority, and he directly addressed the mayor. His request, which he acknowledged came with language his mother wouldn’t approve of: “Put all the bullshit aside and just spread love.”
- He then recited the definition of love: patient, kind, not demanding its own way, keeping no record of wrongs. He asked the crowd to picture their final days.
“Is it going to be the chain that you have on your neck? Is it going to be the watch that you have, the shoes that you have, how much money you have?”
His answer: What remains is the people who say you took care of them.
He is raising three daughters, ages seven, six and four. He said he has now seen two generations come through SYSA, and he wants the next one to inherit a better community than the one he did.
Win for the Next Generation
Baldwin reminded the crowd how much he cared about winning as a player. He even apologized to a former coach, Ray Palmer, for a loss 24 years ago that still sticks with him. Then he turned that competitiveness toward the community: “Let’s take that same energy and let’s win for the next generations.”
- His closing charge: Don’t celebrate the building and then go about your day unchanged. Baldwin said some kid will walk through the doors and be affected by a decision someone in that crowd made to step up, and that person may never know it.
“You didn’t have to, but you did. It’s love.”
