Former Oklahoma Football Players Pitch For 'Rebuilding Together Tulsa'

Former NFL players are trading footballs for paintbrushes.

The group teamed up with Rebuilding Together Tulsa to help an elderly war veteran this morning..

Rebuilding Together Tulsa's goal is to help people who can't manage big home improvement projects. Volunteers, including some former Oklahoma athletes, came on Saturday to finish painting new siding on a home they put up for a local veteran with limited mobility.

They're trading play books for paint trays and footballs for paint brushes.

Former NFL players team up to tackle a much needed paint job at a home on Victor Avenue near Downtown.

"They've got great attitude and effort, you know I had a coach who used to say, hey, all I need is attitude and effort and we'll work with their skills," Steve August said.

August, a former Lineman for the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburg Steelers as well as a TU alum, says former football players may not be the best painters or handymen around town, but that they have some of the biggest hearts and best attitudes around.

"They're all also former TU players so this is close to our heart,” August said. “This neighborhood is right next to TU and so we wanted to be involved in something that was in Tulsa and especially in the Tulsa University neighborhood."

Rebuilding Together Tulsa board member Trevor Hughes says groups like this are how the organization survives.

"Mostly through people like we have out here today, volunteers and companies that sponsor our work,” Trevor Hughes said.

The group helps homeowners within the Tulsa city limits who are unable to fix things themselves due to the physical demands of working on a home and the high costs.

So RTT comes in with volunteers and tackles the job for free.

It's something August says the former big playmakers are happy to be a part of.

“It touches a lot of families, a lot of households in Tulsa and we just think that you know, it's a worthy cause and we love doing it.”