SALT LAKE CITY — Sunday night football featured something much bigger than touchdowns and field goals.
On Sept. 30, ESPN released a feature video detailing Timothy Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, and his visit to the Dominican Republic with Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
During the trip, which took place last July, Ballard and Tomlin, among others, met with children who have been victims of the global sex-trafficking epidemic and are starting new lives at OUR's aftercare centers and sanctuaries, according to the Deseret News. Last week, ESPN teased the video and interviewed NFL analyst and avid OUR advocate, Steve Young, before airing the full feature Sunday night.
"We are trying to stop modern slavery through a mass movement. If everyone stood up now and declared war on modern-day slavery, we could actually end it," Ballard said at a conference last month. "Our biggest obstacle is that people don't know it's real. So when we see ESPN bringing the cause to millions, knowing we will then make hundreds of thousands of converts to the cause, we see our strategy is starting to work. It's very encouraging."
Watch the full video here.