Volunteer-led • Military family focused

Bringing military families together through the power of sports.

Salute to the Season creates community experiences where active-duty service members and military families can connect, recharge, and simply enjoy the game together.

See the 2026 Gathering Community Support

2026 community gathering: Salute to the Season — NFL

29 of 32 NFL teams supported the first 2025 gathering

2025 First held in the U.S. Air Force Academy community

2026 Year Two continues in the West Point community

Our Mission

Connection, morale, and a little normalcy.

Military life can move families far from home, favorite teams, familiar traditions, and lifelong support systems. Salute to the Season uses sports as a common language — a reason to gather, laugh, compete, watch the game, and build community.

The goal is simple: create memorable, family-centered experiences that strengthen connection and quality of life for military communities.

How it started

One idea. One volunteer. A response nobody expected.

Salute to the Season began in 2025 while volunteer organizer Tony Russell and his family were living at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Being a veteran himself, Tony Russell wanted an opportunity to bring military members and their families together who may otherwise be experiencing separation or general familial strain from the demanding life and career of the military.

Growing up in southeast Texas, Tony Russell spent his whole life seeing how football united communities. Through this, he realized that the NFL is a foundational American institution that has brought people together for decades. The realization that football can bring a community together sparked the idea for Salute to the Season.

Inspired to make a difference in his community, he began reaching out to NFL teams to help put together a neighborhood football gathering for active-duty service members and their families. By the time the first gathering arrived, 29 of the NFL’s 32 teams had shown their support through donated items and regular correspondence with Tony Russell.

In 2026, Tony and his family relocated to West Point, and with it came the opportunity to expand on his mission. Salute to the Season is now entering Year Two with a bigger goal: to keep creating simple, family-focused ways for military neighbors to connect through sports and shared experiences.

2026 Community Gathering

Salute to the Season — NFL

Sunday, October 11, 2026 • West Point military community

Watch together

NFL Viewing

Shared game-day viewing that brings fans, neighbors, and military families together in one community space.

Game controller and football video game scene

Play together

Madden Gaming

Friendly competition and console gaming centered around Madden NFL 27 — with bragging rights on the line.

Military family community activity scene

Make a day of it

Family Activities

Food, games, kids' activities, and easy reasons for families to stay, laugh, and spend the day together.

A little extra

Gifts & Free Opportunity Drawing

Donated items go directly to military families. A limited number of autographed and other special items are distributed through a free opportunity drawing.

Free Opportunity Drawing

Opportunity tickets are free. Nothing is sold.

No purchase, payment, donation, or entry fee is required. Opportunity tickets are provided at no cost. The drawing is simply a fair way to give interested military families an equal opportunity to receive limited donated items. Nothing donated is sold, auctioned, resold, or used to raise money.

Community Support

There are many ways to make the day better.

Salute to the Season welcomes donated products and other in-kind community support from sports organizations, athletes, media companies, brands, and local supporters. No monetary donations are requested.

Fan & Team ItemsApparel, hats, footballs, flags, lanyards, fan packs, signed memorabilia, and promotional items.

Family GiveawaysGift cards, subscription codes, gaming accessories, and family-friendly products.

ExperiencesShort video messages, athlete/foundation merchandise, digital experiences, or creative support your organization feels fits the mission.

Interested in helping?

We would be grateful to hear what your organization feels is possible.

Email Tony

Built to Grow

Football is the beginning — not the limit.

The long-term vision is to use the same community-first model across additional sports and seasons, creating more reasons for military families to gather throughout the year.

Contact

Let's build something meaningful for military families.

Teams, athletes, brands, media organizations, and community supporters are welcome to reach out.

Important: Salute to the Season is a volunteer-led community gathering organized by Tony Russell as a private individual. It is not a business, nonprofit organization, fundraiser, or official program of the U.S. Army, the United States Military Academy, or the Department of Defense, and it is not acting on their behalf. References to NFL teams, the NFL, and other sports organizations do not imply endorsement unless specifically stated.

Nothing is sold, no admission is charged, and no money is raised through donated items. This website and email address are used only to organize communication and in-kind community support; they do not represent a commercial operation.

Team, league, company, and product names mentioned on this site belong to their respective owners. Mention does not imply endorsement unless specifically stated.