How the Eagles Autism Foundation gave this volunteer Super Bowl tickets alongside 'a sense of purpose'

Feb. 8—A few days before Christmas, Ryan Lloyd received a call that took him by surprise. Ryan Hammond, the executive director of the Eagles Autism Foundation, told Lloyd, an active volunteer, that he would be the recipient of two tickets to the Eagles' Week 17 game against the Saints.

But it didn't stop there.

During the game, Lloyd and his father, who are both longtime fans, spending most Sundays watching the Eagles on television, had field passes. While the players warmed up, Hammond escorted Lloyd to the 50-yard line, where Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and his wife, Tina, stood.

"That's when Lurie surprised me with two tickets to this year's Super Bowl," said Lloyd, a 27-year-old from Philadelphia. "Little did I know that the Eagles were going to be in it. Four weeks later, the Eagles have made it, but as Coach Nick Sirianni says, 'The job is not finished.'"

Accompanying Lloyd to Glendale, Ariz., will be his dad, Andy.

"I'm looking forward to experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Lloyd said. "Not a lot of people have the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, let alone go when a person's favorite team is in the Super Bowl. I'm very fortunate to have this opportunity."

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Lloyd, a Monmouth, N.J. native and graduate of St. Joseph's University, has been volunteering with the Eagles Autism Foundation since it launched after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018. Five years later, the foundation has raised more than $20 million for cutting-edge autism research and care programs.

For Lloyd, it's given him a sense of purpose.

At age 3, Lloyd was diagnosed with autism. But being on the spectrum never interfered with his passion for sports. In high school, Lloyd played football, was a bowler, ran track and field, and was even the school's mascot.

When he went off to college at Hawk Hill, Lloyd met Hammond, who was the executive director for the Kinney Center, a service and education organization at St. Joe's that provides support for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder.

"I have known about the Eagles fandom for a very long time," Hammond said. "When we started the Eagles Autism Challenge, he got involved. When we have any Eagles Autism events, he is a presence there."

During his senior year of college, he joined the foundation. His favorite experience is participating in the Eagles Autism Challenge, which includes a bike ride and 5K run-walk that begins and ends at Lincoln Financial Field. All the proceeds go towards autism research and support programs.

"I told Ryan Hammond, 'I wanted to do this every year,'" Lloyd said. "It's helped me very much. It's given me a sense of purpose. I've read so much about the challenge and the foundation. I thought it was something really good to get involved with. It spoke to my heart because I was diagnosed with autism at a very young age and I want to give back to the autism community."

Lloyd, who received a degree in sports marketing, was searching for a job following graduation. But when he didn't hear back with any offers, Lloyd started working as a cashier at a local grocery store. However, he wanted more.

It wasn't until the Eagles Foundation and Kinney Center encouraged him to look into CAI Neurodiverse Solutions. The pharmaceutical company offers a neurodiversity employment program that creates more career opportunities for a broader range of neurodivergent individuals.

Besides helping members with job opportunities outside of the foundation, Hammond has also contributed towards the efforts of the Eagles offering a neurodiverse hiring program, where those on the spectrum can receive jobs as game day workers.

"This is a population we feel is underemployed more than any other disability," Hammond said. "We could really focus our efforts and recognize what the barriers are and implement solutions. We started with about five staff maybe last year and we're over 15. I just continue to see not only the interest grow, but the staff continues to evolve. Maybe they started in a greeting role, now they're independently checking tickets."

Lloyd has since been working with CAI for five years as a quality assurance analyst. He shared the previous struggles of his own job search on the company's site and credited the Eagles Autism Foundation for furthering his opportunities.

That left an imprint on Hammond, who later shared Lloyd's words with Lurie.

"Every year the NFL has [initiatives] to send a special fan to the Super Bowl within our Eagles Autism Foundation community," Hammond said. "To see this one person's life literally changed by joining us ... He just seemed like such a worthy recipient."

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