Jermane Mayberry refused to let an underdeveloped optic nerve in his left eye as a child prevent him from becoming a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996.
Shortly after his arrival, he wanted to help ensure that children in the City of Philadelphia had access to proper vision care to avoid the issues that he had as a youth.
Mayberry spent nine years in Philadelphia, earned Pro Bowl honors as an offensive guard, and started for the 2004 NFC Championship Team that went to the Super Bowl. But he will be the first to tell you that the Eagles Eye Mobile Powered by Vision To Learn is the most important thing he accomplished as an NFL player.
"If you've ever seen a child put on glasses for the first time and watched them get excited over seeing the definition of a leaf or words on the blackboard, then you'd know how good it feels for me to give back in this way," Mayberry said.
August is Children's Eye Health and Safety Month and just like the team on the football field, the Eagles Eye Mobile Powered by Vision To Learn is set to kick off another season as the School District of Philadelphia opened its doors to children on Monday.
Since its inception, the Eagles Eye Mobile Powered by Vision To Learn has provided more than 150,000 students with vision screenings, 95,000 with eye exams, and 81,000 with eyeglasses – all at no cost to the students or their families. In 2019, the Eagles partnered with the California-based non-profit Vision To Learn to expand the program with the ambitious – but achievable - goal of helping every child in the School District of Philadelphia, every other year. Since 80% of vision problems can be caught by a simple eye exam, the Eagles and Vision To Learn work to ensure that these issues are tackled early on.
Driving Mayberry's mission today is a team led by Vision To Learn Regional Director Rachel Ciancia.
"Vision To Learn is proud to partner with the Eagles in helping Philadelphia kids get the glasses they need to succeed in school, and in life. By providing vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to students where they are every day - at their local neighborhood school - the Eagles Eye Mobile powered by Vision To Learn eliminates common barriers to vision care for thousands of students in our community," Ciancia said.
The 2004 season that ended with the first trip to the Super Bowl in 24 years was Mayberry's final campaign as an Eagle. Twenty years later, however, Mayberry's picture remains adorned the Eagles Eye Mobile Powered by Vision To Learn as the vehicles help children throughout the region succeed in school, and in life.
"I'm really glad that they did keep it going because it's such a great program," Mayberry said. "And I say this with not any kind of false humility, but I think you could put anybody's name on the bus. It's the Eagles that drive it and it's what the Eagles mean to that community. That's really what makes the Eye Mobile go, the city's passion for the Eagles."
