WARRICK DUNN BUILT HOMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS FOR HIS LATE MOM
Warrick Dunn lost his mother to gunfire, then launched Homes for the Holidays to help single parents buy their first homes.
The former running back, who played 12 NFL seasons, was the subject of an Atlanta Falcons profile published February 28, 2024, credited to Marlon “MJ” Scott and Raymond Ragland. The story, part of the team’s Next Gen Storytellers project, traced Dunn’s challenges and accomplishments on and off the field.
Dunn started the program in tribute to his mother, Betty Smothers. He said it does not give away houses, but aims to “help families create stability, especially for single parent homes.”
From Baton Rouge to the NFL
Dunn was born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As the oldest child in his family, he stepped into a father-figure role for his siblings, helping with meals, homework and baths.
Smothers worked as a Baton Rouge police officer and also as a security guard. When Dunn became academically ineligible to play football at a predominantly white Catholic high school, she pushed him. “Are you going to show these people you can do this?” she asked, the profile recounted.
Dunn pulled his grades up. Coach Maelen “Choo Choo” Brooks became a father figure and mentor to him along the way.
In 1993, Smothers was shot and killed during a failed robbery attempt, the profile said. That same year, Dunn helped Florida State win a national championship as a freshman.
Florida State first wanted him at defensive back. Dunn struck a deal with coach Bobby Bowden to play running back instead, and he later landed in both the Florida State University Athletics Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted him in 1997, and he won Offensive Rookie of the Year. He later became a standout for the Falcons.
In 2004, Dunn received the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for his community impact. He said it meant more to him than the on-field hardware.
“I would rather win the Walter Payton Man of the Year over winning Offensive Player of the year or an MVP.”
What happened next
WarrickDunn.com said Homes for the Holidays began in 1997, during Dunn’s rookie season with Tampa Bay. The site said more than 200 single parents have been rewarded for achieving first-time homeownership.
Dunn laid out the help in a CNN report. It included a “$5,000 down payment” and a fully furnished home, “all the way down to the toothbrush.”
After retiring, Dunn became a limited partner in the Falcons ownership group when team owner Arthur Blank approached him. He first sought advice from a financial advisor, then earned an MBA at Emory University.
“A lot of the business verbiage would fly over my head in the business meetings,” Dunn said.
He also started “Count on Your Future,” a service meant to help people improve financial literacy and build savings.
Dunn spoke openly about mental health too. He said he was ashamed and embarrassed to seek counseling at first, because football players and Black men were expected to seem strong and tough. He later became more confident about asking for help.
He said he once tried to start a mental-health organization but could not get funding or support. He felt he was ahead of his time, since mental health was not a “sexy” topic then. He now advocates for community mental-health services.
“Government dollars are out there,” Dunn said.
He said he wished more players would come to him for advice and welcomed the growing public attention to getting help.
Warrick Dunn Charities now lists Homes for the Holidays alongside the Hearts for Community Service Scholarships and the SCULPT health-and-wellness brand. The charity calls Homes for the Holidays its flagship program, a “hand-up – not a handout” for single parents and their children.
Homes for the Holidays now provides home furnishings, down-payment assistance and pantry food to new single-parent homeowners, working with local community partners, Warrick Dunn Charities said on its website, which was updated October 3, 2026.
