[Pictured, left to right: Cory Redding, Board Trustee Walt Penn, Executive Director Michael Griffith]
Breakthrough Central Texas is honored to have been chosen as one of the first three grantees of the Cory Redding Foundation receiving $7,500 to continue our work in helping create first generation college graduates as an effort to provide educational opportunities to youth in Austin.
Giving back has been important to Cory since his playing days at the University of Texas and throughout his NFL career. He established The Cory Redding Foundation to support quality educational, recreational and community assistance programs that promote the development of at-risk populations.
A two-time All-American and first-team All-Big 12 defensive end at Texas, Redding played in 52 career games for the Longhorns, starting 38. Tabbed a Lombardi and Hendricks Award finalist and a first-team All-American as a senior, Redding capped that year by claiming Defensive MVP honors in Texas’ 35-20 Cotton Bowl victory over LSU. The 1999 Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year finished his career ranked second on UT’s career TFL’s list (57) and 10th on the Longhorns all-time sacks chart (22). Prior to coming to Texas, Redding was named the 1998 USA Today National Prep Defensive Player of the Year and a Parade All-American as a senior at Galena Park’s North Shore High School.
The Detroit Lions selected Redding in the third-round (66th overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft. He quickly made an impact in the NFL, starting every game in the final five years of his six seasons with the Lions. Redding spent the 2009 season with the Seattle Seahawks before playing two years for the Ravens where he started 22 out of 30 games. Now in his third season with the Indianapolis Colts, and 12th overall in the NFL, Redding has started over 130 career NFL games, posting more than 492 tackles (331 solo), 32 sacks, two safeties, one interception, 11 fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and 18 passes defensed. In his 11-year career in the NFL, Redding has only missed 8 games.
In the off-season, Redding is actively pursuing the completion of his degree in Youth & Community Studies within the College of Education. His wife, Priscilla, is a University of Texas graduate, earning her bachelor of science from the College of Education in the field of Applied Learning and Development in 2003.