Indianapolis Professional Football Team hosts Big Brothers Big Sisters at Fowling Warehouse
The Indianapolis Professional Football Team partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2026, for the first Community Tuesday event of October at Fowling Warehouse in downtown Indianapolis, bringing mentors, mentees, players and cheerleaders together. The afternoon featured fowling, a recreational game that combines elements of football and bowling, as participants competed to knock down pins by throwing a football. Cheerleaders joined the players in interacting with youth, but the source did not name individual cheerleaders.
Several team players joined the program hour, including DeForest Buckner, Seth McGowan, Mitchell Melton, Eli Pancol and West Weeks, and they faced off against the pairs attending the event. Big Brother Jim Patton said his mentee, who is typically reserved, opened up during the activity. “Tonight, he opened up and was talking to players, and I could not get him off the fowling board,” Patton said.
“It is really great to see the players interacting with our youth because it sparks joy in them,” Dominique Morefield, program events and partnerships manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, said. DeForest Buckner, who has been in Indianapolis since 2020, said giving back to the community that has supported him the last six years has been a top priority. He said kids often see players only on Sundays or on television and may view them as unreachable figures, so meeting them in community settings helps make players more approachable.
NFL Sports Blog Take
Community Tuesday events like this provide visible, hands-on engagement between the Indianapolis Professional Football Team and local youth partners such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana. The presence of multiple players and team representatives at a neighborhood venue gives mentees direct access to role models and supports the Indianapolis Professional Football Team’s broader outreach efforts beyond the stadium. Continued participation by established players such as DeForest Buckner helps build sustained relationships that benefit both the community and the franchise’s public-profile work.