Ever since he was a kid growing up in California, Dante Pettis has always been a bit of a performer on the football field.
There are enough snapshots from his days at JSerra Catholic High School and the University of Washington to fill numerous photo albums.
Pettis’ success in the NFL hasn’t materialized the way he hoped after the Niners drafted him with the 44th overall pick in 2018. However, he added to his NFL scrapbook with a 51-yard receiving that helped propel the Bears to a 19-10 win over San Francisco on rain-soaked Soldier Field in the season opener.
It was only the 53rd reception of the wide receiver’s career.
While Pettis hopes to add to that total in the coming weeks, including Sunday at the Meadowlands when he takes on a Giants team he played for in 2020-21, he’s also focused on using his passion for photography and art to help. to those who fight. with mental health.
Pettis’s foundation, CR18, was created for precisely this purpose.
“It’s for artists, to help fund them,” said Pettis, who headlined a charity auction in Los Angeles before last February’s Super Bowl. “It’s also to let people know that art is an outlet. You don’t have to resort to unhealthy things.”
strange push back
Pettis’s main focus as a youngster was on sports. It wasn’t much of a surprise since his father, Gary, won five Gold Gloves while playing for the Angels, Tigers, Rangers and Padres between 1982 and 1992.
“I was throwing a basketball or football or baseball in the air,” said Dante’s mother, Peggy, who cheered for the Raiders in 1989-90. “He was always running around like crazy, or playing video games. He never wanted to come over for dinner.”
The “spark of art” was ignited during Pettis’ senior year of high school when he took a Shakespeare class. She loved plays and she began to immerse herself in books. “The Alchemist” (which she has read numerous times), “The Catcher in the Rye,” “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and “Relentless” are among Pettis’ favorites.
During his time at the University of Washington (where he returned an NCAA record with 9 punts for touchdowns), Pettis developed a love of photography. He loves taking pictures in big cities, something he was able to do quite frequently in San Francisco and New York. .
However, as the 2018 draft approached, Pettis said he received a lot of criticism for his hobby.
“I was like, ‘This is weird,'” said Pettis, who caught 15 TD passes as a junior and 7 more as a senior. “It’s not unlike someone who likes to fish or whatever…
“There was something important around my name: well, how much does he like football because he’s an artist? I had to answer a lot of questions about that throughout the combined process.”
San Francisco actually traded to draft Pettis. He had a decent rookie season, catching 27 passes for 467 yards and 5 TDs, but fell out of favor with coach Kyle Shanahan in 2019 and was inactive when the Niners lost Super Bowl 54 to Kansas City.
positive test
Visitors to Pettis’s CR18 website are greeted with two messages: “Art is a universal language” and “United we create.” Then come four facts investigated by the Pettis team:
• 50% of students need mental health support
• Only 12% of schools are at the level of quality arts instruction
• 35% of elite athletes suffer a mental health crisis
• Participating in 45 minutes of artistic creation significantly reduces cortisol levels.
Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who also loves photography and owns a Sony A-7 III camera, noticed an Instagram post of Pettis taking photos and the two immediately clicked.
“Nothing else matters at that point,” Mooney said of how she feels while taking photos. “You can see everything from a different point of view, through the lens.
“I’ll go into town, put on my hoodie, put on some music and just take pictures. There’s nothing else, no football, no life. Just taking pictures.”
Pettis has a very close friend, so close that he considers him family, who was going through a difficult time. Pettis’s suggestion to use art as an outlet had dramatic effect.
“A lot of times when they were in a darker place, they used a lot of drawing or writing,” Pettis said. “They told me how much that helped. They really felt like they put a lot of their emotions on paper. A lot of people haven’t found a way to express themselves and express those emotions.”
“Art is one of the best ways to do that… It helped him a lot.”
‘You have to share’
Growing up Catholic and with parents who understand the importance of giving back, it’s no surprise that Pettis has become so altruistic.
“My mom had multiple sclerosis, so it was a great fundraiser for me,” Peggy said. “We also give to church every Sunday. Our children have always seen that you help the less fortunate. Always. My four children know that even if you only have a little, you should share with others.”
CR18’s auction in February raised money for an arts school in California. The foundation also sets aside money for scholarships.
Pettis’ team will brainstorm and go over what the next few months should look like. They are planning an event in Chicago that is currently scheduled for December.
Pettis uses his connections in the art community to determine who should receive a donation.
“They’ll send me a couple of Instagram profiles or their website and I’ll just go through and pick someone,” Pettis said. “Or I’ll send it to a couple of people on my team and say, ‘What do you guys think of this person?'”
Overcome
Pettis started last season on the Giants’ practice squad, then caught 10 passes (including a TD) for 87 yards in Weeks 6 and 7. Disaster struck the following week, however, as Pettis suffered an injury to his the shoulder that ended the season in Kansas City.
In the offseason, the Bears “were the first team to call” and Pettis signed a one-year deal on May 12. His fluidity down the route impressed offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and the rest of the staff.
“He’s done a great job,” Getsy said in late August. “She presented herself with an opportunity and she walked out on it and took it by the horns.”
Pettis returned punts in the first three games and caught that TD that turned the momentum around against the Niners. Otherwise, he’s been pretty quiet, so it will be interesting to see what happens when rookie Velus Jones Jr. and N’Keal Harry return from injuries. (Jones can play Sunday against the Giants.)
Whatever happens, Pettis will keep working hard because he knows not many WRs get a second chance, let alone a third. If he can show the Bears enough the rest of the way, maybe a long-term deal could materialize at some point.
But whatever his future in the NFL turns out to be, he’s already shown his friends, family and plenty of entertainers how he plans to spread the wealth off the field.
“I’m so proud of him,” Peggy said. “He wants to make the world better… he’s always been super compassionate. He’s very quiet, but he has that part of him that wants to be a shining light in people’s lives.”
“He just wants to help people.”
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