LS Jon Condo was voted by his teammates at the end of the season to receive the 2012 Commitment to Excellence (CTE) Award. Recipients of the award are selected based on their hard work, leadership, and excellence on and off the field throughout the season. On Saturday, March 9, 2013, Condo will be honored as part of the 11th Annual Commitment to Excellence Award Presentation Dinner at the Oakland Airport Hilton.
Condo was shocked and grateful to be chosen by his teammates to receive the award. "It's an unbelievable honor, especially to be voted by my teammates," said Condo. "I'm extremely surprised, but I'm tremendously honored and humbled that my teammates would select me. It really means a lot. It's right up there with the Pro Bowl selections. It's probably more meaningful than that just because it's my teammates voting on it."
The seven-year NFL veteran joins Raiders Legends and Hall of Famers who have received the CTE award in the past. "If you look down the list, besides Jim Otto, you have the other guys that made it with Nnamdi [Asomugha], Charles Woodson, Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, all those guys. Just to be in the same breath of air as them, Marcus Allen, there's so many coming to my head right now, but it puts everything in perspective, like 'wow, I'm here.' I don't know, it's hard to just talk about it, just because I'm not a position player like them, but here my teammates vote on this and to have the respect of all my teammates, it's very exciting and very humbling and just feels great."
Condo has attended the CTE dinner in the past to support his teammates who received the award. This year, however, Condo will be the honoree and his favorite part of the dinner, and many Raiders events, is the time he gets to interact with Raider Nation. "[My favorite part is] probably just to see all the fans that come out," Condo explained. "I try to go to the booster club meetings and all that stuff just to mingle with the fans. It's always great to give back and shake hands and talk with the people who buy the tickets, your loyal fans that come to the games that have been with us the past seven years that I've been with the Raiders. Just to give back and talk with them, that's probably what I really enjoy the most out of this."
The Commitment to Excellence Award Dinner, hosted by the Steering Committee for the Booster Clubs of the Oakland Raiders, gives back to the charity of the award winner's choice. Condo hopes fans come out to support his chosen charity - Garth Brooks' Teammates for Kids Foundation. The foundation focuses on helping children in the areas of health, education, and inner-city outreach. "For every dollar they get, Garth Brooks puts back $3, so they triple the money we donate," said Condo on the charity. "So it's definitely going for a great cause."
Besides the charitable element, fans will have the opportunity to enjoy dinner, a silent and live auction, and meet Condo. "I'm going to be there," said Condo. "I'm trying to get some of the other players, who I think will come, but I can't really name any yet, because I'm not positive. Hopefully I can get a handful of guys, five, six, seven, or eight guys, to come. It should be a great time to come together and hopefully start off this 2013 season on a positive note and get things rolling."
To learn more about the event and to purchase tickets, call 650-428-0810 or click here for more information.
