Hue and Michelle Jackson are the proud parents of three daughters, all of whom have played sports from dancing to swimming to gymnastics.
And as the Browns hosted their third-annual Cleveland Browns Moms Clinic on Wednesday morning, Michelle Jackson offered an important perspective as part of a panel about youth and high school football and dynamics that can be applied across all sports.
"This has been a great experience, it's been a great learning experience for me. It's wonderful to see how many moms are really truly engaged in the sport, really want to know and learn," Jackson said.
"We love seeing the kids, as I was mentioning earlier, how the kids come with their pads and helmets and they're just so excited to be out here at the facility."
Indeed, the Moms Clinic — which aims to educate those in attendance about critical health and safety elements — is one of several initiatives by the Browns to engage and give back to Northeast Ohio.
"The organization cares so much about the community, I know Jimmy and Dee Haslam, that's one of their main priorities," Jackson said. "That's why they have all this set up out here for training camp, they provide so many opportunities, the work that they do to be involved in the community and this is one aspect of that."
Headlined by an impressive panel featuring Jackson, University Hospitals doctors Amanda Weiss Kelly and Michael Salata, Browns performance dietician Katy Meassick, Cleveland Browns Daily co-host/former NFL player Matt Wilhelm and Inside the Cleveland Browns host Sara Carnes, the event began with an engaging and wide-ranging forum.
It welcomed an open discussion about topics such as concussion recognition and response, proper equipment fitting, Heads Up tackling/blocking techniques, heat emergency preparedness, hydration, and how to prevent and treat sudden cardiac arrest.
There was also plenty of talk about the importance of communication between coaches and parents and the potential drawbacks of sports specialization.
"I think as a parent, you're dealing with your child's life, their safety, their learning experience and it's your responsibility to understand what's going on, what's being taught, what's being coached," Jackson said.
There was also much made about the benefits of sports that go well beyond the playing fields.
"The benefits of being in team sports, I could go on, it helps so much. I've seen my children learn how to communicate with their teammates," Jackson said, adding, "It helps them learn how to manage their sports and academics. Academics come first. Always. And that's a struggle with each child that you have. You have to look at your kids and help grow them in learning how to do that."
Following the panel, the moms gathered at the Browns facility and joined a USA Football Heads Up football tackling clinic with Browns youth football adviser and St. Ignatius Head coach Chuck Kyle (who is also a certified Master Trainer in USA Football's program). Browns alumni RB and NFL ambassador Jamel White also helped lead the tackling clinic.
The Cleveland Browns are committed to assisting the development, safety and growth of youth football throughout Northeast Ohio with year-round programming for players, coaches, officials and parents. Through camps, clinics and other initiatives, the Browns' goal is to promote healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by enhancing opportunities for youth football participation and education.
"The Browns organization cares about all those people that are supporting them and it's a phenomenal opportunity for more and more people to come out and learn. You look and you see all these moms learning proper tackling technique and these moms then have that opportunity to watch their kids in practice and make sure that that's what they're being taught," Jackson said.
"And so for the Browns to provide that, I'm very happy to be a part of that and very grateful myself."
