Last month Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs celebrated his 26th birthday by hosting the 1st Annual Team Sizzle Worldwide Celebrity Weekend in Baltimore. Proceeds from the weekend, which included a star-studded party, a luncheon, the Raiders-Ravens game, and a private party, benefitted the The William E. Proudford Sickle Cell Fund.
Some of the celebrities that came through were Christina Milian (singer), Reagan Gomez-Preston (actress), Jill Marie Jones (actress), Hosea Chanchez (actor), Gary Sturgis (actor), Kellita Smith (actress), Winky Wright (boxer) along with Raven teammates Ray Lewis, Willis McGahee, Bart Scott and Evan Oglesby.
We caught up with Suggs and fired off a few questions about Team Sizzle, sickle cell, and his other projects off the field.
What is Team Sizzle?
Team Sizzle Entertainment is a company I founded to produce and promote events such as parties, concerts, tournaments, etc. The company is also responsible for handling charity events. It's made up of a small group of people whom I trust. We're basically trying to do our part in changing the world!
What kind of projects does Team Sizzle have coming up?
From an event stand point we're working on a New Year's Eve party, a Christmas party and a party for All Star Weekend in Phoenix. For charity, we're putting together a food and toy drive for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The Annual Celebrity weekend benefits a Sickle Cell Fund, why is this disease important to you?
Most people don't really know or understand the disease and it's devastating effects. It's a condition that mainly affects African Americans, so even though I don't have it, I know it's a factor in my community. As a result, I wanted to make my people more aware of it.
How much money were you able to raise?
This was the first event that we've (Team Sizzle) ever done so, the amount of money wasn't as important as the amount of awareness we raised. We really got the word out in Baltimore and beyond, so the money pretty much puts the icing on the cake. As we grow, though, we want the event to get bigger so next year I'm shooting for the moon.
What other projects off the field do you have going on?
I just launched my movie production company, 1080 Productions, but we don't really have any big projects just yet. I want to take my time with it because that's one of my passions, and I really want to do things right!
