Philadelphia Soul to host job fair for veterans during Military Appreciation Night

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for veterans who have served active duty since Sept. 11, 2001 was at 9.9 percent in 2012.

That number was actually a decline of 2.2 percent from the year before.

Among veterans between the ages of 18-24 that served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the unemployment rate was 20.4 percent in 2012.

These statistics may strike a cord with a lot of people, but it really hit home with two members of the Philadelphia Soul organization in particular: majority owner Ron Jaworski and defensive lineman Morkeith Brown.

Jaworski learned of these numbers during a conversation he had with fellow owner Marty Judge. Jaworski was taken aback by what he was told.

"To me, that's a disgrace," Jaworksi said during a phone interview with philly.com.

Upon hearing this, Jaworski decided to take action. The Soul, along with many other professional and minor-league sports teams, hosts an annual military appreciation night.

Teams typically give tickets away at a discount rate or away for free to servicemen and women and may even wear military-themed alternate uniforms for the occasion. But Jaworski wanted to expand upon that for the Soul's night this season.

What came out of it was not only a themed night, but a job fair, an Army vs. Navy football game and a "Stars and Stripes Fan Fest."

All of this surrounds the Soul's (7-5) matchup against the Iowa Barnstormers (6-7) at the Wells Fargo Center at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. All of the festivities will take place at the Wells Fargo Center.

"I am very excited about this," Jaworski said. "We all owe a debt of gratitude to all of our military men and women that have defended and fought for our country."

"Unemployment rates for veterans right is just way too high," Brown said. "For someone to go fight for their country, losing family members, losing limbs and to come back and not be able to get a job is just ridiculous. This is a really big deal."

Jaworski and Brown have had their own personal experiences with the armed forces. Jaworski's father and brother served in the military with his father being wounded in World War II.

While Jaworski has experienced military life from afar, Brown can actually speak of the plight of returning veterans and the difficulties they have finding employment.

After graduating from high school, Brown enlisted in the Army and was deployed for a 14-month tour in Afghanistan in 2005.

When he returned from his tour of duty, Brown decided to continue his education and go to college. He enrolled in Lackawanna College for one semester before enrolling at Temple where he began to play football. Prior to joining Temple, he did not play football.

Brown played for Temple from 2008-11 and was named a team captain and an All-MAC performer.

When he tried to find a job along the lines of the FBI or the CIA, however, Brown found it to be harder "than it should have been."

"What if I didn't want to play [football] professionally?" Brown asked. "I should be able to find a job and at one point I was trying to find a job and I couldn't get a job because they said I was over or under qualified."

Brown did decide to play football professionally and seems to have found a home with the Soul.

In 10 games this season, Brown has recorded 14 total tackles with 4.5 being for a loss.

Because of Brown's connection to the military, he as earned the admiration and respect of the Soul organization and its players, according to Jaworski.

"His story is incredible," Jaworski said about Brown. "I can't say enough wonderful things about Morkeith."

"I was aware of Morkeith the football player, but when I learned about what he's had to go through […] This is a very unique individual and then when you get to know him as a person, you realize how lucky as a football team we are to have him as apart of out organization," Jaworski added.

As for Saturday, the job fair, which is hosted by the Judge Group, will begin at 1 p.m. inside the Wells Fargo Center with almost 50 employers expected to be in attendance, according to a Soul press release.

"We're grateful the city of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Soul took the time to recognize how it's hard for veterans to get jobs and for them to bring this up and give them opportunities, it's a big deal," Brown said.

The "Stars and Stripes Fan Fest" is scheduled to run from 3:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. with the Soul-Barnstormers and Army-Navy game to follow.

Jaworski plans on not only presenting the event again next season, but to also build upon it.

"The most important thing we want to accomplish is to make people aware of the plight of our veterans that can't find work," Jaworski said.

For more information on the event, go to the Soul's website.