Covenant Hospice Volunteer Wayne Frazier has some great memories about the first Super Bowl played back in 1967. Frazier was not watching the game at home, nor was he even in the stands of the Los Angeles Coliseum during the game. He was playing starting center on the field with the Kansas City Chiefs. “It was pretty exciting because there was a lot of hype around playing Green Bay, but we also knew we had a good ball club,” said Frazier.

According to Frazier, Super Bowl 1967 was nothing like the Super Bowls of today. No million dollar 30 second commercials; no star studded half-time show. Just a 100,000 seat LA Coliseum only about three quarters of the way to capacity and some nervous young football players.

Frazier grew up in Evergreen, Alabama playing football in high school and eventually as a red shirt freshman at Auburn University. Drafted as a junior, he played in the Hula Bowl and the College All-stars game. During his time in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and then later with the Seattle Seahawks, Frazier was encouraged to participate in community activities and events.

Now, 43 years later, Frazier still has a desire to help others and currently serves as a Patient & Family Volunteer with Covenant Hospice in Brewton, Alabama. “My wife and I were very active in our business, and so we had a hard time with retirement,” said Frazier. “My wife became a volunteer first, and then encouraged me to do the same because there was a need for male volunteers in the area.”

As a Patient & Family Volunteer, Frazier visits male patients and provides respite care to the caregivers. “I look at it as giving back to the community,” said Frazier. He was also prompted to become a hospice volunteer because he saw what a great relief it was to his sister to have a volunteer while she was caring for her husband. “It just made me want to give caregivers a break in return.”

Frazier currently visits two male patients weekly in the Brewton area, and says that it’s a blessing to him. “I feel like I am blessed more by the patients, then what I might give to them,” said Frazier. He also encourages other males in the community to become a volunteer with Covenant Hospice. “I recommend giving it a try, because you don’t know what it’s like until you try.”

According to Jodie Williams, volunteer manager for Covenant Hospice, “There is a very big need for male volunteers in our area, and we continue to receive volunteer requests for home repairs, yard work and for the building of wheel chair ramps,” said Williams. “And for those who don’t necessarily want to work with patients, we have many different volunteer opportunities.”

Frazier sees himself as a much needed companion to his patients. “The longer you are with them, the more they become like family,” he said. In most cases, male volunteers can interact better with male patients who want to reminisce about the war or talk about sports. And in Frazier’s case, that includes one great memory from 1967.

Learn more about becoming a Covenant Hospice volunteer.