Throughout Denzel Ward's childhood, his father, Paul Ward Jr., used a phrase to inspire Ward and his family both on the field and in school.
It shaped the way Ward approached life, and later became a way to honor his late father.
"My dad used to always say that to me and my brother and my family, just in a positive light," Ward said. "Going out on the football field make them know your name with announcers calling your name, so making plays and just doing a good job there. And he said it when we were going to school, make them know your name and get good grades. Your name is everything is this world and just how people remember you and think of you when your name is called."
Now, as Ward enters his seventh NFL season, the phrase "make them know your name" continues to hold a significant place in his life as the name of his foundation – dedicated to helping prevent heart-related fatalities.
During the 2024 offseason, Ward traveled to the Columbus Statehouse with his mother, Nicole, to help provide written testimonies in support of House Bill 47 after she brought the origin of the bill to Ward's attention. Nicole also served as a keynote speaker to share their family's story in support of passing the bill.
A few months later on July 23, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 47, which requires all public schools and non-public charter schools – along with all municipally owned or operated sports and recreational centers – to have automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). The bill also requires the Ohio Department of Health to develop a model emergency action plan for the use of AEDs and for support staff and coaches to know how to perform CPR and use an AED.
University Hospitals and Robert Flannery, MD, UH Drusinsky Sports Medicine physician and assistant physician to the Browns, also played a significant role in the progress of the bill. In Jan. 2024, UH first launched the AEDin3 program in partnership with the Browns, the MTKYN Foundation and Kaulig Companies to ensure schools in Northeast Ohio were equipped with the AEDs and necessary training. This bill helps all public schools and recreational centers in the state take important steps forward in safety.
"All the work that has been put in and the effort put in to finally get the bill passed," Ward said. "With my family going through the traumatic situation that we went through, just trying to have the opportunity for families to avoid that situation in the future and putting those AED kits in communities and teaching people how to use them. It's a huge honor to be able to pass the bill and get it taken care of. I'm just looking forward to just having an opportunity of saving lives."
DeWine signed the bill at Worthington Kilbourne High School, where soccer player Canen Dickman's life was saved in 2023 after he collapsed and his coach administered an AED. DeWine was joined by Dickman at the signing of the bill, as well as representatives from the NFL and others.
"The evidence is clear: AEDs save lives," DeWine said at the signing. "While we know that sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer of student-athletes in America, we also know the vast majority who get immediate help from an AED survive. The difference these devices make is astounding. Having them on standby in our schools to safeguard our students is a must."
HB 47 is significant to Ward and his family. In 2016, Paul Ward Jr. was at a spin class when he collapsed. While EMS arrived on the scene and he was rushed to the emergency room with life-saving efforts attempted, Ward suffered from cardiac arrest and died.
The loss of his father inspired him, his mother Nicole and his brother Paul Ward III to launch his family's foundation, Make Them Know Your Name Foundation (MTKYN) – dedicated to helping prevent heart-related fatalities in communities across the nation.
The foundation's mission is to positively impact the heart disease epidemic, in part through providing CPR training, AED equipment and resources, and community education to emphasize the importance of living a heart-healthy lifestyle.
"There's been a lot of effort that's been put into it," Ward. "Just to be able to see where we started and where we are now is definitely promising and encouraging. Just the fact that I feel that we're helping people out in this world and the community and we're just going to continue to try to grow it spread the heart health awareness and just be good in the community."
In 2023, the NFL, along with other major sports organizations, leading patient and health advocacy groups, as well as foundations, announced the formation of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition to advocate for all 50 states to adopt policies to help prevent fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest among high school students. MTKYN is one of coalition's member organizations. They wanted to join together with people and organizations with the same goal of working to accomplish heart health and save lives.
Yet, even with HB 47 signed into law in Ohio, Ward knows the work is not done. Through their foundation, Ward said they put on various events to spread awareness on heart health. Through football camps where they teach the athletes CPR and how to use an AED kit, to fitness expos where Ward will hold workouts, and he provides training.
The passing of HB47 is another step towards the progress Ward and the MTKYN Foundation want to see in preventing heart-related fatalities. As they continue to help make strides, working together as a family has played an important role in their concerted efforts.
"We wanted to come together and do something to affect this community and honor my dad in a positive way," Ward said. "Like we could have gone a bunch of different directions with building a foundation. But just going through a traumatic experience, we just wanted to use that to prevent other traumatic experiences in other people's lives and also honor my dad. It's been big doing it with my brother, my mother and the rest of my family. She has been the backbone really of the foundation and doing a lot of work and making sure we're keeping this thing going."
