When former Philadelphia Eagles player Mark McMillian was still an active football player, one of his greatest nemeses on the field was Arizona Cardinals player Rick Cunningham. Now, Cunningham is one of the first people McMillian thought to invite to play with him at the Saturday, Sept. 27, charity golf tournament at the Oakcreek Country Club in the Village of Oak Creek.

“When we were playing, he was always trying to hit me for some reason,” McMillian said. “He’s like 6’6”, 360 pounds when he was playing. … But he’s one of the funniest guys that you will ever meet.”

The 18th annual tournament, hosted by Sedona Area Veteran & Community Outreach, closes its registration to participate on Sunday, Sept. 14.

Organizer Gigi Rock said she got a lot of experience organizing events like this from her own company which has previously worked with the Super Bowl. During her time there, she became acquainted with McMillian.

“I said [to McMillian], ‘Can you come out and golf?’ And told him it was for SAVCO,” Rock said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to come out there and help. Can I bring some friends?’ And I went, ‘sure.’ Then we capped the friends. … So we have five NFL players.”

The three other former NFL players include Arizona Cardinals Michael Bankston and Frank Sanders, and Philadelphia Eagles Byron Evans. They’ll be playing the tournament along with long distance golf pro Anna Berman.

It’s a scramble, so you’re playing against other people,” McMillian said. “Gigi is trying to do a competition where people can bid on their favorite player that’s going to be there. So people can probably bid on me playing with their team, and if you win, I’m sure you win a prize, a trophy or something like that.”

All these retired players are big in supporting their communities and continue to be active despite being retired, Rock said.

“Michael Bankston is really big into supporting children,” she said. “So is Mark McMillian. Well, all of them are, and Mark McMillian — he was called ‘Mighty Mouse’ because he only stands maybe 5’7” in the NFL — He’s got a great record.” The average height for an NFL player is 6 feet 2 inches “He went on to do this whole football program for children that I’m going to try and bring up here,” Rock said.

“It’s called The Lift Program,” McMillian said. “Which helped have football camps across the country for kids to have a safe place to go and participate and do some drills that we did through our NFL days. And it’s also to help fund some programs for kids that’s been harassed and bullied.”

SAVCO

SAVCO, formerly known as the Marine Corps League of Sedona, has events year round in the name of supporting the community.

“We carried on the traditions of the Marine Corps League, like we support Toys for Tots that’s within our Sedona area,” SAVCO President Jack Ross said. “We’ve added programs, veteran assistance programs, where we can help veterans in financial distress. We have a ‘litter mile’ out there on [State Route] 89A where a couple times a year we clean up the street.”

But the golf tournament happening this time of year helps raise funds for their assistance to local nonprofits.

“In the last three years, we’ve given just under $50,000 away to nonprofits and the scholarships we provide,” he said. The scholarships are not one-time awards, he said, but continuous checks throughout a student’s college career while making sure their academic standards are being met.

“We do a trades scholarship, also,” Ross said. “So somebody that wants to be a plumber or electrician. We help them get started as well.”

Applications for grants through SAVCO opened online at the end of August.

“It’s a pretty minor application,” he said. “It’s not like a 10-pager. If you filed for a grant, they’re not fun. Ours is like one and a half pages, like, ‘who are you?’ ‘What are you asking for?’ It’s usually $500 to $3,000 kind of range, and the golf tournament is what generates the funds for the scholarships.”

Mark McMillian

McMillian, along with the other former NFL players, have volunteered and been active in charity organizations since their retirement from the NFL.

“When she [Rock] asked me about this idea of coming down and bringing some of my NFL buddies I was on board 100% she didn’t have to ask twice,” McMillian said. “So, shout out to Gigi Rock, man, for making this happen and helping putting something amazing together for some of my guys.”

McMillian began his brand, Grill’n McMillian, about six years ago.

“I have a barbecue sauce line, I have olive oils, I have hot sauces, and I have dry rubs as well,” he said. “Which some of the proceeds go back to my [Lift] program.”

With his company, McMillian has gone on to not only sell his own recipes but also make appearances on Gordon Ramsey’s “Next Level Chef”.

“These are my grandparents’ recipes from the spices, barbecue sauce,” McMilllian said. “It’s called Cooking with Clara. My grandmother’s name was Clara Jones. Suit’n Boot’n was named after my granddad because he always had the suit on. So everything is paying homage to my family.”

Golf Prizes

Prizes are being offered this year which aren’t limited by people, but by how well the players do. These prizes include all-expenses-paid vacations to Pebble Beach, California and the hole-in-one contest winner receives a two-day trip to Bali.

“We have the Golf Charity International, they’re a big sponsor, they’re doing Pebble Beach,” Rock said. “We have Anna Berman, who’s a long distance pro. She’s coming in, and she will be on one of the par five holes, and you can donate money for her to hit your ball.”

Besides just the golf tournament, other ways to get involved in the fundraiser is bidding for sports memorabilia.

“We have CBU Auctions,” a sports memorabilia store based in Scottsdale “that will have autographed memorabilia from almost every sport,” Rock said.

Registration to participate in the event is $150 per person or $500 per team. Hole sponsorships are $100. Visit savco.org/savcoannual-golf-tournament for registration.