CHARACTER COUNTS

Desert Edge football alum Steven Ortiz Jr. signs NIL for hurricane relief

Sep 27, 2022, 7:13 AM

(Twitter Photo / @1stevenortizjr)...

(Twitter Photo / @1stevenortizjr)

(Twitter Photo / @1stevenortizjr)

Minnesota defensive back and former Desert Edge football standout Steven Ortiz Jr. signed an NIL deal with the goal of raising money for Hurricane Fiona relief in Puerto Rico.

Ortiz Jr. partnered with The Kitchen, a new eatery in Minneapolis, to create a meal named after the Goodyear native. All proceeds from the meal will go toward hurricane relief efforts for the first month it hits the menu, Ortiz told On3.com’s Pete Nakos.

The restaurant posted on Instagram that the meal will drop on Oct. 1.

The redshirt freshman shows off his Puerto Rican heritage on social media, including Puerto Rican flags in his Twitter bio and photos of him wearing a durag with the flag printed on it.

Hurricane Fiona hit the U.S. territory last week, leaving half the island without power into Saturday.

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