Tom Zbikowski Official Website

Tommy has involved himself in countless charity events benefiting children since he was a youth and is determined to remain a committed humanitarian into the future. Tommy has been in the forefront of charity initiatives since his days at South Bend. He started his own foundation, which has been established to help contribute to several charitable foundations. Charitable organizations the foundation donates to include the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Hannah and Friends a non-profit foundation started by Charlie and Maura Weis that is dedicated to providing a better quality life for children and adults with special needs, Hospice of Health First of Melbourne, Fla., Make-A-Wish Foundation of Indiana, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, South Bend Center for the Homeless, and PanCAN, a pancreatic cancer research foundation.

Tommy has used his love of boxing as focal point for his charity outreach and it has continued into his NFL days. Zbikowski was the only athlete in the history of the NCAA to compete as both a Division I collegiate football player and as a professional boxer. Zbikowski was a good enough boxer to hold his pro ring debut at Madison Square Garden, knocking out Robert Bell in 49 seconds, see extended fight footage here. He won a second bout in South Bend's Civic Center in 2007, an exhibition that benefited the Make a Wish foundation on behalf of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis' daughter. To view this fight at the Civic Center Click Here.

According to Ed Zbikowski, Tom has donated more than $60,000 from his fights to charities through his own foundation. Zbikowski was going to stage a pay-per-view fight last May to benefit ALS, the disease that afflictsO.J. Brigance, the Ravens' director of player development. But the Ravens preferred he not fight, and the event was canceled.

"I'm very proud of him, as any parent would be," Ed Zbikowski said. "I'm more proud of the person he is than the athlete he is."

Tommy was also named to the 2007 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team, He is one of only 11 football players selected to the Division I-A team. Zbikowski is the fifth member of the Fighting Irish football program to be honored since 1999 and the fourth in the last five years.

The Good Works Team is comprised of football student-athletes who have been actively involved and committed to working with a charitable organization, service group or involved in other community service activities. Nominations for the team are submitted to the AFCA by college sports information departments. Candidates have to display sincere concern and reliability, while also having made a favorable impression on the organizations with which they are involved. Athletic ability is not a criteria.