FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- Three NFL coaches will honor the late Mike Heimerdinger, the longtime assistant coach and coordinator, by helping his foundation raise cancer awareness and provide healthier meals for survivors.
The Washington Redskins' Mike Shanahan, Houston Texans' Gary Kubiak and St. Louis Rams' Jeff Fisher will take part in the Drive for Dinger, a two-day fundraising dinner, silent auction and golf tournament that starts June 28.
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The event for the Heimerdinger Foundation will assist the Meals 2 Heal program.
"I'm just very, very grateful that they're there and wanting to go ahead and help out," said his wife Kathie Heimerdinger.
Heimerdinger worked for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and most recently the Tennessee Titans. He was diagnosed with cancer in November 2010 and kept coaching the Titans the rest of the season. He died 10 months later.
Shanahan has known Dinger since they were freshman roommates at Eastern Illinois and hired him twice to work for him in Denver. They played golf every year in the break before training camp and went fishing in Florida last year.
"This charity, to me, is to make it easier on people that have cancer to get meals, to understand exactly what the cancer is," Shanahan said. "When Mike first got it, there were so many questions. His family wants to make it easier for someone who does have cancer and their family, where they can find out all the things they need to know.
"We're raising money to make it a little bit easier for people with cancer who can't afford some meals and health care."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
