I’m a three-time Super Bowl champ but my life goal outside sport is saving shelter dogs – Andy Reid gave me a nickname

KANSAS City Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi has saved more than 500 shelter dogs over the past four years, becoming a local hero for animal advocates.

The former third-round NFL pick has been finding new homes for dogs in partnership with the Kansas City Pet Project shelter.

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Nnadi, 28, and the organization first teamed up in 2019, per ESPN.

Together, they launched a new promotion that aimed to help hard-to-place dogs get adopted.

The ex-Florida State standout started to pay the adoption fees of a pooch that fit the category with every Chiefs win.

A few months later, Nnadi won his first championship ring after Kansas City beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV.

And to commemorate the occasion, the Virginia native cut an $18,600 check to cover the adoption of all the 109 dogs that were in the shelter.

The initiative cleared the kennels at the KC Pet Project.

It also inspired other campaigns that supported dog adoptions throughout the US.

“I was living in Iowa City at the time,” Stephanie Filer, an executive director of Shelter Animals Count, said of Nnadi's decision to sponsor 109 dog adoptions after the 2020 Super Bowl win, per ESPN.

“I just thought it was the coolest thing. I wished we had a pro team in Iowa at the time.”

Nnadi, who's been called “the dog whisperer” by Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, continues to sponsor a dog every time the Chiefs win.

Many of the 500-plus dogs he has already helped were ones people didn't want.

Some were candidates for euthanasia.

The three-time Super Bowl winner's actions are “transformational in saving animal lives,” Filer told ESPN.

Particularly as animal shelters have been overflowing in recent years.

Nnadi told ESPN he's had a special connection with dogs since childhood – even though he couldn't have one at home because his mom was afraid of them.

The Chiefs defensive back himself has two pit bulls while trying to destigmatize the breed, considered to be aggressive and dangerous dogs by many.

Also, he wants to expand his foundation's impact on the community.

Nnadi hopes to do more work with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City and with homeless people.

“I just want to have my peace and try to help out like a big brother would,” he said.

“A lot of times I look at what's going on around the world and to see how I can just uplift it in a way.”