“Ohhhh, turn it up! It’s Graduation Week!”

That was my message to my 4-year-old who was about to finish pre-kindergarten and to my 10-year-old who was graduating 5th grade. Yup, two in the same week!

Graduation Day will make any dad proud and, since my dad never made it to any of my graduations, it means even more to me. My dad never made it because he had to work. How many other parents are in that same situation? I understand some people can’t make it, but if you can make up for a lost day of wages and still choose your work or other things over an hour or two of showing love — that’s no bueno.

Kids can only graduate from a grade once, so missing it when you could be there is lame. It’s a proud moment that doesn’t happen every week, and you should never miss an event at which your child is the star. Pictures of this special day are cool, but being there is priceless.

Have fun with graduation

Graduation is supposed to be for the kids, but you know dads like me still have to have our own fun with it. We wake up every day and make sure our kids get to school, so we deserve this day as much as they do.

I found a deal for $5 “big heads” on Groupon and jumped on the opportunity. It was a simple and cheap process that brought us tons of fun and memories.

The look on my kids’ faces when they saw themselves as huge cardboard heads was insane. All their friends and parents smiled while asking where we got them from.

I’m a sucker for making my kids feel like stars and making sure I had fun with it helped big time.

Take lots of photos

We have all encountered rude parents who block your view and photo ops at graduation. Often they are so excited they don’t even know they are doing it. It is what it is.

If you have to get in someone’s way to take pics of your kids, do so but don’t be rude. Don’t just barrel people over. Think about what you are doing.

Whenever my kids got called for an award or even their diploma, I weaved my way to the front to take a picture. If you’re a little shy like me, you do need to get over it. If you don’t, you will end up with some wack photos.

I abide by the rule of asking for forgiveness later, not asking for permission to capture the moment. however, always make sure you don’t mess it up for someone else. Get out of the way once you have your shot.

In conclusion, graduations are special for everyone involved. Childhood goes by way too fast and you never get a replay of moments like these. Do all you can to be there, take dope pictures and have fun. You will thank yourself when you see how proud your kids are and the smiles on their faces when you hug them. That feeling is the best.

A version of this first appeared on Cool4Dads. It first ran here in 2019 and has since been updated. Photos: James Lopez family.

The string of celebrity deaths that started this year affected me, as a parent, more than they usually do. 

The seemingly ageless Betty White, weeks from her 100^th birthday.

Less than a week later, we lost legendary and groundbreaking screen actor Sidney Poitier.

Then came beloved TV dad and standup legend Bob Saget.

I always mourn the loss of life no matter what the person’s age. However, these three in particular made me very introspective about my own mortality and life.

I only saw a handful of movies by Sidney Poitier, but I knew he was pioneer for Black actors. He paved the way for many people of color in an industry that had long regulated them to roles like servants or uneducated punch lines. Poitier did so by taking on roles where he showed himself to be smart, eloquent and as fierce as they come. The ambitious son in A Raisin in the Sun. The compassionate but no-nonsense teacher in To Sir, With Love. So many more. He will always be considered one of the greatest actors ever. 

And I can tell you, with all honesty, that being Black and having the last name Gibbs, I often re-wrote his famous quote from In The Heat of The Night to my own benefit. However, the impact of introducing myself by authoritatively saying, “THEY CALL ME, MR. GIBBS!” goes directly over the heads of elementary school children I substitute teach.

Prime time parenting lessons learned

Betty White and Bob Saget were different. I watched them weekly growing up as part of my Friday and Saturday evening TV routine with my parents. Those nights included watching many now classic feel-good family shows like Family Matters, Amen, 227, Perfect Strangers and Empty Nest. Those prime time family shows shaped my youth. Several showed strong Black families with educated and hardworking parents like mine. Seeing those people on screen, as well as IRL in my home, let me know I too could achieve that.

But those prime time memories of being on the couch watching Golden Girls and Full House remain my fondest. I remember laughing with my mom at the crazy stories of Betty White’s “Rose” told about her hometown of St. Olaf. I clearly recall the goofy-yet-knowing smile creeping across the face of Bob Saget’s loveable “Danny Tanner” as he taught his girls right from wrong. (Later in life, I gained a newfound appreciation for Saget’s acting skills. This was when he revealed himself to be closer to the raunchy Redd Foxx than squeaky clean Jim Gaffigan in his standup act and post-Full House movie appearances.)

This is all to note that we no longer live in that age. “Must See TV” night and appointment television are gone. We can binge-watch an entire season of a show in a less than a day then move onto another. And, as parents with increasing responsibilities, it easier to plop your kids alone in front of the TV so you can take a break time rather than share family time. 

But I would challenge you to do something a bit different next time your kids want to watch The Thundermans or Family Reunion or even SpongeBob SquarePants:  WATCH IT WITH THEM.

Make TV time a learning time

You may think these shows are for kids and harmless. However, every once in a while, sit down and watch in right along with them. You may roll your eyes at the predictable stories line, overacting and terrible jokes (not all the different from shows of our youth, am I right), but put them in context. Adults write these shows. Many have adult concepts and mature themes slipped in that your kids might have questions about. They may also promote bad habits that are often dismissed by well-placed laugh track.

This is not to say that these shows are sinister, but they also should not be seen as babysitters. Make more attempts to watch your kids’ shows with them and when the credits start to roll, ask questions.

What happened in the show? What themes and lessons emerged? Do they have questions about what they where watching? Did anything words or actions need explaining? While binge watching can be fun, taking time in between shows to find some tangible takeaways they can grown on can be valuable.

These can be something as simple as how to be nicer to your siblings. These could be more complex, such as how to deal with the death of a loved one. Watching Golden Girls as a child really helped me see the value in long-lasting friendships (and how amazing cheesecake can be). Amen, for example, showed me the power of faith, a trend continued in the Family Reunion on Netflix. Full House showed a single dad trying to be a great example to his kids. 

So, make that TV time with your kids impactful and active. Your kids will be better for it because you showed interest in something they like. It might be a somewhat out of your comfort zone, but you will be a better parent because you will get what make your kids laugh, what makes them cry and maybe a little bit more about makes them tick.

Prime time parenting photo: ©Prostock-studio / Adobe Stock.

John Madden. Betty White. Bob Saget. The somber news of celebrity deaths has been relentless over the past few months. Against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic, each name seems to hit harder than the previous.

Then came Sidney Poitier, the celebrated Bahamian-American actor. His death struck me the hardest.

Poitier was one of my late mother’s favorite actors. More importantly, his The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography was the last book my mother recommended to me, via her landline phone, before her own death five years ago.

A lifelong reader, my mother lost her ability to read books in her 80s due to macular degeneration. But she moved on to audio books, and she encouraged me to listen to Poitier’s famous voice narrate his life story. I’m glad I listened to her and Poitier.

Early in the narration, Poitier reveals he was so frail as a newborn that his hardened, impoverished father obtained a shoebox that could function as a casket if necessary. Fortunately, Poitier gradually grew, and his mother ordered his father to throw the shoebox away. By the end of the book, Poitier builds to a grand, sobering-yet-also-inspiring statement: “The only thing we know for sure is that in another eight billion years it will all be over. Our sun will have spent itself … but you can’t live focused on that. … So what we do is we stay within the context of what’s practical … what values can send us to bed comfortably and make us courageous enough to face our end with character.”

Listening to that conclusion made me re-appreciate why Poitier became a celebrated actor.

Personal celebrities deserve re-appreciation, too

After reflecting on Poitier’s impact and death, I decided to reconnect with one of my own long-forgotten though still-inspiring personal “celebrities.” My 10^th grade English teacher, Rich, was the first teacher to expose me to mind-expanding novels like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Richard Wright’s Native Son. His class also featured a writing contest that I happened to win. I have viewed myself as a writer ever since.

When I called the number I had for Rich from years ago, things did not start well. He thought I was a telemarketer because I reached his landline rather than his cell (Rich is in his 70s). But after he realized it was me, we launched into a wonderful conversation about the old days and the new days. As our conversation ended, I considered how fitting it is that he still has a landline. Symbolically, people like your favorite high school teacher still have landlines to your heart. They are the forgotten celebrities. They had an outsized, larger-than-life impact on your actual past, not just your virtual, TV-viewing past.

Re-appreciating Rich inspired me to try to reconnect with some of my children’s forgotten celebrities — e.g., the gymnastics teacher who taught them life lessons and the volunteer coordinator who treated them with dignity. In the process, the family value of gratitude has been modeled and reinforced.

A final reason to re-appreciate your family’s personal celebrities sooner rather than later is simple. As celebrity deaths teach us, it is easy to forget the impact they had on us. Thanking them again before it’s too late helps us practice the values that, in Poitier’s words, “can send us to bed comfortably and make us courageous enough to face our end with character.”

Photo: © Konstantin Yuganov / Adobe Stock.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This Saturday is a rare event, Leap Day. It is also Rare Disease Day, an international campaign to raise awareness about the 7,000 under-the-radar diseases that individually affect few people but, as a whole, affect more than 1 in 10 Americans.

On my daughter’s birthday last year, I drove several hours to visit her at college. I brought her the local vanilla-bean glazed doughnuts she claims are “the best” along with several assorted goodies from home. We then spent most of our afternoon chatting and watching reruns of Friends while we waited for her latest five-hour drip of IV medication to finish.

For all but the first two of her 19 years, my daughter has dealt with juvenile dermatomyositis, an incurable autoimmune disease that affects muscles and blood vessels. Just three in a million children are diagnosed with it, so you probably have never heard of JDM before. Not even if you know my girl. Outside of our family and the phalanx of doctors and nurses who have treated her through two decades, she barely talks about her condition, especially not with her friends and classmates. It’s rare a child wants to be seen as different from her peers, and that is no different for a child battling a rare disease.

Someone else, though, has given a voice to people like my daughter.

Not long after our indulging in carbs and Chandler Bing’s antics, legendary rock guitarist Peter Frampton announced a farewell tour. The 68-year-old, best known for his 1970s megahit album Frampton Comes Alive, told the world his pending retirement is being hastened by inclusion body myositis, an adult variant of the rare disease my daughter has that is even less treatable and more damaging than her condition. It, too, has no cure.

IBM, as it is called for short, is a degenerative illness. It progressively weakens and lays waste to major muscles in the arms and legs. Worst for a skilled guitar player, it eventually affects strength and dexterity in the wrists and fingers.

Someone’s diagnosis with an incurable disease is never cause for celebration. However, Frampton’s prominence and openness with media and fans about his battle excites certain people. These are the doctors, researchers, caretakers and patients who have spent a significant portion of their lives dealing with or dedicated to conditions few others know about.

“I can’t begin to tell you how extraordinary it is and how generous it is on his part to reveal this,” Frampton’s doctor, Lisa Christopher-Stine, director of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center in Baltimore, told the Global Genes website. “With rare diagnoses, we are all struggling to gain recognition for them in the public sphere. His disclosure brings potential funding, awareness and support. Not every disease has a celebrity spokesperson for it, but when it does, it accelerates progress exponentially.”

In addition to going public about the potential devastating effects of his disease, Frampton established a research fund bearing his name at the Hopkins center, one of a very small handful of medical facilities dedicated to these illnesses. One dollar from every ticket sold on his final tour will go to the fund, which is expected to receive many additional donations at a steady pace from fans, peers and many others during that June-to-October run, a Hopkins spokesperson told me.

As Frampton said about his diagnosis in a recent interview with CBS This Morning, “Look, it’s not life-threatening. It’s life-changing.” For my family, especially for my daughter, I hope his championing of the cause of myositis research does change many, many lives for the better. Her mother and I have spent much time and effort raising money and attention to the disease and its need for better treatments the past decade or so, but it will surely be a fraction of what a respected superstar like Frampton can bring the cause.

In the meantime, my daughter continues improving after the latest flare of JDM, a condition that once made it impossible for her to walk and almost impossible to swallow when she was a toddler. Her doctors are looking at tapering some of the many meds they had to reintroduce to her regime; she is looking forward to a spring season on her college’s tennis team. And, despite the many appointments, pills and IVs, she pretty much goes about her day as if she was any ordinary 19-year-old and not the rarity she really is.

Photo: Kevin McKeever

DISCLOSURE: This is a sponsored post from Swiffer for its #SwifferDad campaign.

Cleaning is a chore most of us can do without. For me, I grew up having to do several chores, including washing my clothes and vacuuming. If Swiffer products existed back then, cleaning would have been not only tolerable but dare I say enjoyable. That’s how much I actually like Swiffer.

My family has used these products for years. They are easy to use, easy to find and very effective. I feel as if I have accomplished something when I use a Swiffer to get to those hard-to-reach dust bunnies.

Swiffer is certainly a family-friendly product. That’s why I was so excited for its  #SwifferDad campaign in which it partnered with one of America’s favorite TV dads, Anthony Anderson from the ABC sitcom black-ish, to try to change the perception that fathers don’t (or can’t) handle the “dirty work” in their homes.

“As a working dad and husband myself – and one who cleans floors and drives the carpool – this is a story I can relate to and am excited to help tell,” said Anderson, the creative adviser of the campaign, said. “We cook! We clean! We do housework! What I love about the #SwifferDad campaign is that it’s about celebrating the hands-on role that most of us play – it portrays who we really are as modern dads. And the best part is that this shift to shared responsibility for chores is having a positive effect on our kids.”

Swiffer knows that dads are doing more house cleaning than ever before. I couldn’t be more pleased that they are supporting modern dads. Dads today are pitching in nearly two times more than their dads did, according to information provided by the Swiffer Cleaning Index. In fact, the roles have shifted. Half of today’s dads say they do most of the household cleaning and the divvy up chores with their significant others, according to Swiffer.

For me, my fatherly housework started even before my daughter’s birth with cleaning an old bedroom to prepare it for her arrival. To be honest, that room had become something out of that show Hoarders. To say it needed cleaning was an understatement. What it needed was a second chance.

I went to work on removing items, massive purging, and cleaning and dusting. I am proud of the work I put into that room to make it a comfortable and clean environment for my daughter. I have vowed to never again let dirt and clutter get the better of me.

One of the reasons why I feel it is important to do my part is because I want my daughter to see me as clean. I want her to know that men clean and her dad cleans. I don’t make it look like a chore, so she often wants to help. Yes, my daughter will use a Swiffer to dust the bookshelf or clean under the couch. I believe my willingness to clean in front of her is why she is willing to help. Some people may still believe in that sexist idea that cleaning is only women’s work, but my daughter will know better because Swiffer and I are keeping it real.

Swiffer recently sent me a “big green box” with a Swiffer Wet Jet and accessories. Ten years ago, I would not have been remotely excited about this. However, I know just how easy Swiffer products are to use, so I smiled and giggled like a child opening a birthday gift. I knew that this Wet Jet was going to help my family and me keep our new home clean. The biggest asset is the speed at which I can clean with a Wet Jet. Thanks to Swiffer, I have more time to save the world from supervillains with my daughter.

Since I was given a second “big green box,” I had to decide which fellow father would receive the Wet Jet. It was an easy decision. I had to give it to one of my best friends, Erik, a true modern dad. He is an active and dedicated father who can easily handle any task in his household. Erik was excited to receive the box and even said he had wanted a Wet Jet and would put it to use immediately.

With my schedule changing, I decided to take on more cleaning chores. Swiffer and the Wet Jet will be essential tools in my cleaning. And lots of music. What? You don’t listen to tunes when you clean? You don’t know what you’re missing. Get a Wet Jet and other Swiffer products, turn on some of your favorite tunes and join the rest of us #SwifferDads. Dads clean, too!

DISCLOSURE: The writer received compensation, including the products mentioned above, in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed are completely his.

My daughter had to do a project for Women’s History Month recently. She had to choose a famous woman, find some facts about her, get a picture of her, and bring in supplies to make a paper doll of her.

These are kindergarten students, ages 5 and 6. Doesn’t that seem a little advanced? When I was in kindergarten, we made things with Play-Doh and colored. Kids of that age don’t watch the news, they don’t read newspapers or the encyclopedia (they still make those, right?) How are they going to come up with a famous woman who has accomplished something?

Obviously, the parents are going to influence the kids, or everyone is going do reports on Doc McStuffins’ mom, Kiki from the Fresh Beat Band or Sleeping Beauty, which someone in Nugget’s class did.

Not to go too much on a tangent, but what did Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora) actually do? She was cursed as a baby. She lived in the woods with her fairy godmothers. She pricked her finger. Fell asleep. And was awoken by Love’s True Kiss. And the LTK was by a prince who she was arranged to marry from the time she was a baby, so it may not have been true love. I am just saying.

We decided that Nugget would do her report on Malala Yousafzai, the little girl who was shot by extremists in Pakistan after it was discovered that she had been writing a BBC blog about the condition and availability of schools for girls in her village. She lived, has been honored by human rights groups and now lives in the United Kingdom. And Malala is a fun word to say.

We sent in our name request since the teacher didn’t want duplication. We got a note back that asked us to pick another person. Don’t get me wrong I think her teacher is great and is working hard to help Nugget get out of her shell and be more confident.

Is Malala’s story too rough? Too real? We assured her that Nugget would be going very top-line.

We assured her that the phrases “Muslim fundamentalist” and “shot at point blank range” would not be uttered. She agreed and, according to Nugget, it went well.

Malala Yousafzai
Malala is a little girl like me.
She is Brave.
She wants all girls and boys to be able to go to school.

And, apparently, another child also did their report on Malala.

I think anyone who is worthy of being a subject of this kind of project has had some tough times and has had to overcome them. Would a report on Christa McAuliffe end right before she buckled into the Challenger?

There are some people who you should do a report on someone that featured no true suffering. I guess if you did your report on Lena Dunham, you could talk about how hard she’s had it since she didn’t get a movie deal, only a contract with HBO. Poor Princess Kate, she had to marry a guy who one day will be King of England.

If we are asking our young children to do projects like this, we have to let them know that all stories have warts and they are part of the story as well.

Photo: © Robert Daly/KOTO /  Adobe Stock.

“I shaved nearly 20 minutes off my time from 2009,” said marathoner, Anthony Caso. “It’s probably a result of good coaching,” joked John McEnroe, as he was reunited with Caso, one of the six runners on his Dove Men+Care Deodorant Real Men Marathon team. Tennis stud and well-known confrontational specialist, John McEnroe, was brought on as the team’s “anti-irritation coach” to impart tips and wisdom from his own personal “triumph over irritation.”

Standing on the sidelines and cheering on the runners at the annual NYC Marathon is a tradition for my personal family.  We bundle up, drink hot chocolate, and stand equipped with noisy cowbells and clackers. It’s so inspirational to watch the runners stride past with their names proudly painted on their shirts and complete this amazing test of endurance.

I was thrilled to meet some of the marathoners on the team that Dove Men+Care assembled to hear their inspirational stories, the challenges they’ve overcome, and about being parents.  

One of the team members, Anthony Caso, a father of two boys – ages 2 and 4, said, “I ride my bike and run marathons to show my sons that playing doesn’t stop when we grow up.” 

That’s a wonderful message to live by!

Tennis was a tremendous part of my childhood and continues to play an important role in my life. Therefore, it was an absolute honor to talk with one of my childhood idols, Johnny Mac, the team’s “anti-irritation coach.” We discussed his role as marathon coach, being a parent, and tennis. Here are some of the highlights from our interview: 

“Coaching the Dove Men+Care marathon team was much easier than winning a Grand Slam Tennis Tournament,” McEnroe joked as we settled into our interview.

NYC Dads Group: You’re the Dove Men+Care “anti-irritation coach.” It’s an unusual title. Please explain what it all means.

John McEnroe: The idea of Dove Men+Care’s Deodorant is to help all men end everyday irritation and so there was a natural connection based on my past history on the tennis court with irritation, in a semi-comical fun way.  Plus, I’m from NYC, live close to the finish line, and after the challenges we’ve endured with (Storm Sandy’s) cancellation of the marathon last year and with the Boston tragedy, this coaching job had an added significance and was a great fit for me personally.

NYC Dads Group: Have you ever run a marathon?

John McEnroe: Thankfully, not. 

NYC Dads Group: You’ve got a well-known history of being confrontational on the court and for temper flare-ups.  Our audience is parents, what advice can you offer parents out there who are faced with moments “when they’ve had it?”

John McEnroe: There is nothing comparable to being a parent…a totally different animal to a coach telling you how to act while your playing tennis against an opponent.

I’ve got six kids through two marriages and that has actually given me a lot more patience. It’s changed me quite a bit, for the better. You’re responsible for this person and set a good example. In retrospect, parents make lots of mistakes – it’s important to reflect and learn from them to be better. My key is always to be there for my kids on a consistent basis and to love my kids.

NYC Dads Group: As the Dove Men+Care “anti-irritation coach,” what kind of wisdom did you impart to your dynamic team of marathon runners?

John McEnroe: Running marathons and playing tennis is different. I realize I’m not an expert on long-distance running, but I gave these men some advice on staying loose as they geared up for the big race. Making sure they got a good night’s rest, although that’s easier said than done.  Also, we talked about when you hit that proverbial wall…trying to compartmentalize the race in smaller parts, notching each part off the belt so you attain small victories(like I just finished this one mile)as you’re on the path to that light at the end of the tunnel. 

NYC Dads Group: Is it important to you for tennis to be an integral part of your children’s lives?

John McEnroe: Yes, tennis being a part of their lives was important. It’s not something I was going to push my kids towards, but it was my hope that all of them would know how to play.  

Expectations are very high when one of your parents is a successful athlete, and immediately as soon as they would walk out on a court, questions would arise: “Will you be as a good as your father?” and “How are they are going to react to the chair umpire?” so having that shadow would be challenging and they’d have to be very thick-skinned. Several of my children played competitive high school tennis and enjoy tennis, but never took it too seriously to compete beyond that level, and it’s probably better that way.  

NYC Dads Group: What are your favorite things to do together with your family?

John McEnroe: I love to be able to take my kids to a sporting event like a New York Knicks game or a New York Jets game because I’m a big sports fan. Living in New York, we have a lot of options, seeing a great play, or art show, or play music together with my kids.  Additionally, I really enjoy the basic things like having everyone together at the dinner table and having great conversations with my kids.   

After spending the afternoon with the Dove Men+Care Deodorant Real Men Marathon Team, I was motivated to hit the gym, but not sure I was ready for the mental toughness these guys all shared in preparing for a 26.2-mile marathon.  Running a 5K is a little more my style.   

*Disclosure: Dove Men+Care is an NYC Dads Group sponsor. We work with brands that fit with our mission, and the ideas and opinions presented here are entirely our own.

#1) Earlier in the week, we mentioned that Mayor Bloomberg announced a new citywide fatherhood initiative to strengthen New York families. Well, it looks like he is not the only one charging ahead with new programs for fathers. Looks like President Obama is getting in on the action as well- Krissah Thompson at The Washington Post reports: Obama steps up fatherhood advocacy with new mentoring initiative. A driver of the program is based on census figures from last reporting that a significant percentage of children in the U.S. did not live with their biological fathers. Thanks for plugging us into this Matt!

The new initiative, which is enlisting a network of organizations, will expand on a six-city listening tour the administration held last year to bring attention to the issue of fatherlessness. “The tour was a national conversation on responsible fatherhood that was rooted in the president’s personal experiences growing up and his realization that father absence is a real challenge facing many communities,” said Joshua DuBois, director of the partnerships office…

Obama’s special interest in fatherhood has been a boon for groups that support fathers and have been working for years without much attention. “His leadership and using the bully pulpit has been important,” said Roland Warren, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative, which was founded in 1994 and recently contracted with the federal government to produce public service announcements promoting fatherhood.

Not sure how large an impact this new program will have, but it marks another step in the right direction for the country in promoting the importance of fatherhood.

#2) Earlier this week, we also discussed how awesome it was for the Pampers Brand to name NFL Superstar Drew Brees as a spokesman. As a follow up, the New York Times published an article this week on Getting Dad to Do Diaper (Buying) Duty by Andrew Adam Newman.

The article is a truly great read for all dads. With quotes like, “the role of dads is expanding and we salute that and we want to make dads a bigger part of the brand,” said Bryan McCleary, a Pampers spokesman. “Dads are playing an increasingly large role in parenting and diapering.” Pampers, glad you finally had the epiphany! How about some other parenting brands becoming (slightly) more dad-centric?

The article features some words of wisdom by Greg Allen of Daddy Types stating that “In June, everybody talks to dads…but, the rest of the year it is just moms.” However, the highlight for me was the amount of real estate the article devoted to describing the four years of target practice Brian Reid has been taking on the Pampers Brand. If you are not familiar with RebelDad’s annual gripe, get acquainted with his Pampers boycott now. Hats off to Brian!

Most of America looked on after Drew Brees lead the New Orleans Saints to their 2009 Super Bowl victory. The media had a field day capturing the picture-perfect photos of Drew holding his son Baylon up in the air as the confetti was falling from the sky. ABC’s Good Morning America aired this Father’s Day segment of Drew Brees – going from Super Bowl to Super Dad. Matt S. called me and said, “it’s one thing for the guy to win a Super bowl ring as well as MVP honors, but to be a cool dad (expecting second child in October) who uses diaper changing to bond with his son – this guy is the man!”

In the segment, you will hear Drew clearly state that during his son’s first year, he “changed more diapers than his wife in the Brees household” as well as plug the brand that he is a spokesman for… Nope, not Wheaties, or Gatorade, or expensive cars, or shaving cream. He is the new daddy face for Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max. After sifting through all of the father’s day segments aired by the media in the past week & using very scientific criteria (none) – Matt S. gives this segment top honors.

Watch it and let us know if you agree. If not, feel free to post your favorite Father’s Day article in the media or broadcast segment…