PHOENIX — A Valley kid is back home as former Chandler High School and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Brett Hundley has come home and is getting back into the community.
His Hundley Foundation is getting ready for the second Pawn Stars Poker Run. The motorcycle ride will take place this Saturday, February 24 and Rick Harrison from the hit TV show 'Pawn Stars' will host the event. Harrison will lead bikers, who will make five stops through the Phoenix metro area, ending at Roosters Country Bar in Mesa.
"Everybody gets it confused," Hundley said. "Everybody thinks it's the tournament, sitting down, playing poker, but no. This is going location to location, you get one card at each location and then at the end of it, you finish at Roosters and you have a hand now from each location and then the best hand wins $2,000. The worst hand wins $1,000, and that's the poker run."
The poker run will start at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction. Registration will start at 9 a.m. and the bikers will leave promptly at 10 a.m.
"So everybody's who's coming at 10:05, 10:15, we are out the door," Hundley said. "It will just be a phenomenal ride, a great day, I mean, the weather is great out here in Arizona during this time of the year, so we're really, really excited and it will be a fun ride for us."
The ride will benefit The Hundley Foundation, which Hundley founded when he was a member of the Arizona Cardinals originally to help raise funds for epilepsy research, as Hundley's sister has the condition.
The foundation does much more than raise money for epilepsy now. It has a fatherhood program for first-time fathers and will be starting art therapy classes in April, among other initiatives.
"I'm telling you, this has been the best thing, especially after football, to be able to dive into this has been a blessing," Hundley said.
That's right, Hundley said after football. He has officially retired.
"I'm done, man," Hundley said. "It's, it's crazy to say that though. I don't think I've publicly even said it yet and it is wild to say that I'm officially done with football and moving on to the next chapter of my life."
Hundley was a star quarterback at Chandler High School and signed to play at UCLA in 2011. After four years with the Bruins, Hundley went pro and played nine years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints. Hundley also played one season in the XFL for the Vegas Vipers.
"It's so crazy how time flies, man, so crazy," Hundley said. "It still hasn't hit me to say that I'm done with football, I won't be putting up the cleats no more, but it's been fun, man. To be able to grow up out here in Chandler and then to play for the Cardinals and to have the career I did man, I'm just so grateful."
During his playing days, Hundley would spend the offseason traveling. He says he plans to do more of that now that he is retired.
To learn more, watch the video at the top of this story and for more information on Hundley's foundation, visit hundleyfoundation.org.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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