It was quite the eventful offseason for Eagles outside linebacker Connor Barwin.
When he was not working out with a handful of teammates at the NovaCare Complex – he lives in Philadelphia year round – Barwin was out pursuing more leisurely, intellectual and altruistic activities. To wit, he visited to Colombier Beach on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, met Mike Tyson in Atlantic City, frequented the vibrant music scenes of Philadelphia and New York City, worked the control center at SEPTA, talked to politicians on Capitol Hill about Youth Fitness initiatives, went to Haiti on a goodwill mission with NRG, attended the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, took Spanish classes at Temple University, launched his Make The World Better (MTWB) Foundation in Philadelphia, participated in the annual Philly Spring cleanup day and went hunting and fishing in Tennessee.
Not a bad three months on the whole. Out of all his activities, however, there was one that stood out the most for Barwin.
“My trip to Haiti with NRG was probably the most fulfilling (thing I did this offseason),” Barwin said. “I try to enjoy everything I do, but that was a really fun, worthwhile trip. I met a ton of inspiring people. We toured all the facilities that NRG has built there over the last four years, in terms of putting solar panels on top of buildings to generate solar power. While there, we spent three days putting solar panels on top of an orphanage to give them reliable power, which people don’t have in Haiti. I’d never been to Haiti before, so this was quite an experience.”