Former Chicago Bear Desmond Clark Holds Charity Event

It wasn't hard to pick Desmond Clark out of the crowd at Playbook Sports Bar in Niles on Sunday as the Bears game was getting under way.

You just had to look for the tall guy with the big shoulders and the number 88 jersey, which he wore for eight seasons as a tight end with the Chicago Bears, right up until this season.

Clark spent the day at Playbook to raise money for his charity, 88 Wayz Youth Organization, which provides mentoring to at-risk young people.

"We have a very systematic mentoring system," said Ryan Steele, the organization's chairman, as Clark signed autographs and talked to fans.

"We have one mentor to every three students. We're now in 12 schools in Lakeland, FL, where Desmond is from, and we'll start two in Chicago in the spring. If all goes well, we'll have 20 in the fall."

To raise funds for the organization, Clark is holding events like the one at Playbook, which included a fundraising raffle as well as a chance to watch the game with Clark and get his autograph, and selling jars of his 88 Wayz dry spice rub for barbecue.

"Two weeks ago, he did a 'watch the game with Desmond' event at a bowling alley," said Christian Shanafelt, a high school student from south suburban Richton Park who volunteers for the organization.

Playbook owner Dorian Ozymko said Clark and his team showed up at 11 a.m. with a smoker grill and started cooking up ribs with the 88 Wayz spice rub, which Playbook then served to patrons.

"It's phenomenal," Ozymko said. "Everybody's been ordering nothing but the ribs. The spice rub is smoky, sweet and spicy all at the same time. We must have gone through 50 slabs of ribs."

Steele said the fundraiser, which brought out so many people that drivers had to wait for a space in the parking lot, was for a good cause.

"It's really rewarding to see these kids change their lives," he said, "especially kids who haven't had a father figure or a positive male role model."