September 16, 2013
San Francisco, CA – September 16, 2013 – Helping to draw attention to the importance of financial education, today San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis and 49ers left tackle Joe Staley showcased Financial Football for San Francisco high school students. Financial Football is a free, NFL-themed educational video game and classroom curriculum developed by Visa Inc. Joining Davis and Staley at today's event was California State Controller John Chiang and California State Board of Equalization member Betty T. Yee.
Huddled in the 49ers' locker room at Candlestick Park, Davis and Staley rolled up their sleeves to lead two student teams in a high-energy game of Financial Football. Earlier, both Pro Bowlers shared their personal experiences on the importance of responsible money management with students from Mission High School and Thurgood Marshall High School. Also on hand to lend support were California State Controller John Chiang and California State Board of Equalization member Betty T. Yee both long-time supporters of enhancing financial literacy in California.
The popular game is the centerpiece of Visa's nationwide educational initiative with the NFL and NFL PLAYERS. Financial Football helps students and adults tackle their financial futures. The game is accompanied by its own classroom curriculum and has been distributed at no cost to over 28,000 middle schools and high schools in 37 states, including California.
"Spending time on helping our students increase their financial awareness is time well-spent," said California State Controller John Chiang. "With the help of resources like Financial Football, students can have the tools to make the smart financial choices that can impact their lives for the better."
"Understanding finances will help students to achieve their goals in life," said Betty T. Yee, First District Member, California State Board of Equalization. "Learning how to manage money will lead to smarter decisions in their personal finances. Everything from saving for college, buying a car, or starting a family in their first house, financial literacy is a useful planning tool that can be used for the rest of their lives."
By combining the structure and rules of the NFL with personal finance questions of varying difficulty, Financial Football puts students' fiscal knowledge to the test. The engaging, fast-paced video game is available in English and Spanish, and can be played online at www.financialfootball.com or downloaded as a free Android or iOS app.
"For over a decade and a half, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy. We are proud to partner with state officials like John Chiang and Betty Yee to strengthen financial education for California's middle school and high school students," said Nat Sillin, Head of U.S. Financial Education for Visa Inc. "Financial Football presents important financial concepts in a way that's fun."
"It is never too early for kids to learn about managing their money," said 49ers tight end Vernon Davis. "It's important for parents, teachers and mentors within the community to work together in order to give teenagers a strong understanding of personal finance."
"It doesn't matter whether you make minimum wage or millions," added 49ers left tackle Joe Staley. "If you don't learn to budget, save, invest and pay bills on time, the consequences can be devastating."
Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life, Visa's free, award-winning financial education program that launched in 1995. The program contains comprehensive money management resources and lesson plans tailored for use at home and in the classroom. Visa also runs What's My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org), a leading higher education consumer awareness program.
About Visa Inc.
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks–VisaNet–that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/our_business.html.
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