Division III quarterbacks across the country took this offseason to make a difference. Alma College’s junior quarterback Carter St. John established QBs vs Cancer, Inc, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designed for quarterbacks to use their platforms as a way to raise money for cancer organizations.

The idea for the organization, St. John said, first came to him during the Alma CARES game last October. Every four years the Alma football players each raise money to purchase uniforms with the name of a loved one or someone they know that has cancer, fought cancer or passed away from cancer. During the game the announcers use the name on the players’ jerseys when calling the game to give recognition to the individuals important to the Alma football program.

“That’s when I really realized I wanted to do something, just because I saw teammates that – like myself – had to pick between three or four people and so that kind of sparked the idea for me,” St. John said.

Like many of his other teammates, St. John had many options to choose from as someone who has had cancer affect his life in several ways.

“My grandfather – two years ago now – passed away from cancer,” St. John said. “I had one of my best friends from high school actually beat cancer and one of my old basketball coaches is still fighting cancer and I just recently found out that my grandmother got diagnosed with it.”

While it may not be to the extent that St. John’s life has been affected by cancer, he said “pretty much everyone in the world knows someone that’s been affected,” and that is why he wanted to use his platform to raise money to fight it and allow other players to “hop in” as well.

St. John first started putting his plan into action in January 2024 by messaging the quarterbacks in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference. After receiving positive feedback he decided to take things a step further by messaging as many Division III quarterbacks he could get into contact with. UW-Whitewater’s Jason Ceniti was one of them.

“Carter reached out to me in the off-season and he said ‘hey I wondered if you’d be interested in joining up and doing this with me,’” Ceniti said. “I loved the idea right 

away.”

Like St. John, cancer is a personal matter for Ceniti as well. His grandmother, his mother’s uncle and his mother all had their own battles with cancer.

“First and foremost, my mom had breast cancer in 2022,” Ceniti said. “That was a pretty huge thing for me, cause we were right in the middle of the season and she called me on a Sunday and gave me the news … just when you thought you had enough going on.”

According to St. John, the organization is open-ended for the quarterbacks involved, meaning they can choose to raise money in whatever way they see fit. 

Ceniti and St. John both decided to hold training sessions for high school players as a way to help athletes grow, while also supporting the fight against cancer.

“I got to see these guys come out and pursue perfection and get better at their craft,” Ceniti said. “Meanwhile they’re slipping me a couple bucks and all that money is going to a cancer foundation in Madison.”

Ceniti said football provides its players with many opportunities to train, work hard, showcase their abilities on Saturdays and “compete and play a kids game and get a lot of recognition for it.” But, that recognition also comes with responsibility.

“How do you use that platform for what we’re doing here? For good,” Ceniti said. “For charity, for meaningful change, meaningful impact. How are you using that platform? We choose to use our platform for raising money for cancer.”

It’s especially important, St. John added, for people to understand that the quarterbacks involved play at the DIII level. He said there are a lot of connotations about NIL, but he wants it to be used for something better.

“I want to make sure people see us DIII athletes using our platform for something good,” St. John said. “Obviously we aren’t all over ESPN or anything like that so I want to make sure people realize that DIII athletes are playing for the love of the game and not using any of this NIL money for anything other than giving back to the community.”

St. John, Ceniti and about 40 other quarterbacks have been able to understand the difference they can make in their own lives as well as the lives of others. For Ceniti, he said he was proud to represent the Whitewater community in that light and it’s safe to say it paid off.

“Looking back on how I did this summer and how I’m continuing to push through to October, it’s worth it,” Ceniti said. “Using your platform for this and doing good things with it, that’s where you can make some real meaningful impact. Not just on the football field, but outside the facility, using your platform for good.”