Johnny Stanton IV, Myles Garrett and Wyatt Teller are taking their love for "Dungeons & Dragons" to a bigger stage for a charitable cause.
Stanton, the Browns' third-year fullback veteran, is hosting a charity D&D game at Tabletop Board Game Cafe on Thursday with Garrett and Teller. The group will be joined by comedian, actor and writer Ify Nwadidwe, writer, podcaster and tabletop streamer Aabria Iyengar and Brandon Tharp, who owns a D&D-themed TikTok page with over 300,000 followers. They will all be playing to raise money for Red Nose Day, a charity aiming to end child poverty.
"This event is really exciting not only because a lot of local businesses and the team itself are getting involved, but I get to do something I'm really passionate about," Stanton said. "I get to do it with some really cool people — my teammates and Ify and Aabria, who are coming in from out of state — and get to raise funds for a really important organization in Red Nose Day. Fighting childhood poverty is a very, very important cause, and I'm really happy to be able to help get their word out."
The event is titled "Rolling for Red Nose Day," named after the cause of the charity Stanton is passionate for. Red Nose Day is a fundraising event coined by Comic Relief US to help end the cycle of child poverty and also occurs the day of the D&D event: May 26. The fundraising efforts from Red Nose Day have raised $275 million since the campaign was launched in the U.S. in 2015 and has positively impacted 30 million children, according to the Red Nose Day Campaign.
"They've raised a whole lot of money, and I'm really excited to raise as much as possible," Stanton said. "The fact that the actual Red Nose Day is May 26 and lines up perfectly with this event just feels like it was meant to be."
Stanton, Garrett and Teller have played Dungeons and Dragons together since 2020, according to a Sports Illustrated Feature by Alex Prewitt. Now, what started as a simple game to connect with teammates has turned into another way for the players to give back to the community.
"It's a really small amount of people who have been able to raise money doing something like Dungeons & Dragons," Stanton said. "To be able to consider myself a part of that group now is very cool, and being able to play with Myles and Wyatt has been really special to me. It's been nice to grow chemistry with them through that and have it as an extra thing to talk about and grow together with them.
"When I brought this up to them — to possibly raise money through D&D — they jumped at the opportunity. Ever since then, it's been a whirlwind getting this planned. I'm excited for Thursday, and I think it's going to go well."
The event will take place from 8-10 p.m. with doors at Tabletop opening at 6:30 p.m. for 100 in-person attendees. The game will also be streamed via Twitch at twitch.tv/thecantripcast, and attendees and online viewers will be able to participate in a silent auction and win prizes from the Browns and other additional donors.
The added element of a live audience should spice up the gameplay for the group, who has never played D&D in such an environment.
"I've had a couple online games that I've played on a Twitch audience, but it's only been on my own computer," Stanton said. "Playing in front of a live audience is going to be very different. It's going to be very nerve wracking, but I know we'll get to feed off the excitement of the audience."
Stanton has listed the items up for auction and prizes on his Twitter page. They include D&D gaming pieces, other board and tabletop game items and Browns memorabilia.
Tickets for the event have been sold out, but watching online on The Cantrip Cast's Twitch channel will be completely free. All proceeds will be benefiting Red Nose: https://rednose.thecantripcast.com/.
