Former Niners and Raiders Greats Golf for Good

Event flyer by me

​Hayward, Calif. – Derrick Deese ended his first golf fundraiser by handing out praise and thanks, but it could be others thanking him in the long run for his venture into charity.

Deese, a former San Francisco 49ers lineman who started as a rookie on the 1994 championship­­ team, hosted fellow notable Bay Area sports alums like Jerry Rice, Lincoln Kennedy, Lorenzo Neal and Jose Canseco for the Legends of Sports Charity Golf Classic at TPC Stonebrae. Benefitting his own PATCHWorks Foundation - which assists athletes in post-competition life - the full day of golf, silent auction, dinner and raffle was a bread-and-butter fundraiser with the flair of Legends.

These guys know how to have fun.

Take Rice, for example, who would have looked just as comfortable in a nightclub as he did in a tee box, sporting a pair of Nike Airs and a button down. The best NFL receiver of all time literally brought the noise wherever he went. Imagine Rice, with a portable speaker bumping from his cart, hopping out onto a long par 5 and bombing a drive, cigar in mouth, then posing for a few photos before moving on. It was that kind of day.

Canseco displayed a cannon of a drive from the tee as well, as expected from the Bash Brother, but it was former San Jose Sharks draft pick Alex Hult who won the long drive contest. Meanwhile, many of the other athletes and participants partook in enjoying one of Lincoln Kennedy’s El-K cigars while playing their favorite tunes. Even Angela “The Voice of San Jose” Tirado was there to sing the national anthem first thing in the morning, setting off the party-event atmosphere at Stonebrae.

The noise to be paid most attention to, though, was that of Deese at the end of the evening. He began PATCHWorks after watching a viral video of a homeless former NFL player being jumped and receiving no assistance. From then on he took it on his own to make a contribution. Now, PATCHWorks is his outlet to help athletes enduring “physical, emotional, and financial hardships after their careers have ended.” As the PATCHWorks name suggests, Deese thinks there are ways that Paying a Tribute to Chilhood Heroes Works.
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For more information on Deese and his Legends of Sports, visit LegendsOfSports.Org.