Giants DT Dexter Lawrence Looks to Sack Hunger

New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II makes his living sacking quarterbacks, but on Tuesday, Lawrence donated some of his free time to  sack hunger as part of his partnership with Campbell’s Chunky Soup’s nationwide campaign. 

Lawrence received a short tour of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillsdale, New Jersey, which included a look at the kitchen, as well as the different processes utilized to pack the food products. 

He didn’t get to relax afterward, though. The food bank quickly assigned him the task of packaging cans of Campbell’s Chunky Soup, and Lawrence packed 130 boxes with over 1,000 cans of soup.

“I enjoyed it,” Lawrence said of his experience at the food bank,” And I think I enjoyed it more because I felt the passion and the joy of the workers here. We all have a purpose, and their purpose is to package this food and help fight hunger, so I definitely appreciated it.”

Lawrence also showed some of the volunteers at the food bank how to execute his famous “Sexy Dexy” dance that he performs after every sack.

“Having Dexter Lawrence at Community FoodBank of New Jersey is so meaningful,” says Renee Helfenstein, Assistant Vice President of Events Marketing & Communications at the Community FoodBank of NJ.

“It’s incredible when celebrities come in and actually use their hands to give back,” she continued. It makes a difference. We are helping nearly 1 million people in New Jersey who may not know where their next meal is coming from, and we do that with the help of all of our volunteers and our incredible corporate partners.”

Campbell’s has been fighting hunger for over 25 years, and their initiatives are not new to the Giants. Previous campaigns have featured former Giants stars Victor Cruz, who was part of the 2019 “Mama’s Boy” campaign, and Saquon Barkley, whose campaign was tied to feeding people experiencing homelessness. 

This year, through its Chunky Sacks Hunger initiative, the company has pledged to donate 1,000 meals to Feeding America for every sack made in the league. 

Based on the National Sacks Counter, defenses across the NFL have made 816 sacks, contributing to 816K meals this season.

Lawrence says knowing that his performance can benefit others fuels him to do better.

“It gave me a little more motivation on the field this year because every sack is a thousand meals,” he said. “I always believe [playing] is about more than just myself, so it’s special to me.”

“They always ask me, ‘How many sacks are you gonna get?’ and I tell them, ‘However many I need to help hunger,” Lawrence added.

The team is definitely in need of some solid defensive coverage over the next few weeks. They face Tampa Bay on Sunday and only have a few days to prepare for their game against Dallas on Thanksgiving.

The Giants will look to get back on track with a new quarterback under center. Tommy DeVito, previously the team’s emergency quarterback this season, was named the starter by head coach Brian Daboll on Monday, and will replace Daniel Jones, who will be the emergency quarterback the rest of the way.  

 “I think the message is the same. The goals are the same, and that’s to do whatever you have to do to win,” he said. “They believe Tommy has the best chance of doing that right now, so I’m all aboard because I love this team, and I love playing football, so I’m ready.”