2015 Rose Bowl: Florida State Touchdown Pledge Drive

Florida State and Oregon will square off in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day as part of the College Football Playoff.

But each university has a common bond off the field that trumps the Seminoles and Ducks quest for victory and an appearance in the National Championship Game – a cure against Fanconi anemia.

Each of these big-time college football programs is intimately familiar with Fanconi anemia – a rare and incurable blood disorder.

Florida State University head football coach Jimbo Fisher and his wife Candi have a son, 9-year-old Ethan, who was diagnosed with this rare disease less than four years ago.

Former University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer and his wife Lynn have a 27-year-old daughter, Amy, with Fanconi anemia and lost two other children to this deadly rare disease.

So the two families have joined together under the umbrella of this College Football Playoff semifinal to bring awareness and raise research dollars for Fanconi anemia.

Fans of the Seminoles and Ducks can join the Fisher and Frohnmayer families quest to find a cure for Fanconi anemia by making each touchdown scored in the Rose Bowl mean more than six points.

The Florida State Chapter of Uplifting Athletes is holding Touchdown Pledge Drive for this unique bowl game head-to-head fan fundraising challenge.

Fans of Florida State and Oregon can make a pledge for the Seminoles or Ducks by visiting the Touchdown Pledge Drive site at pldgit.com/rosebowl2015.

“It’s a terrible fate our families share, but one we use to fuel our fight against FA,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “With the nation’s attention on the Rose Bowl, we have both an opportunity and responsibility to raise awareness for a much more critical victory in our sights.”

The Fishers started Kidz1stFund shortly after Ethan was diagnosed. And in less than four years Kidz1stFund has donated $2.8 million directly to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, the largest treatment center for Fanconi anemia patients in the country.

All proceeds from the Florida State Chapter Touchdown Pledge Drive at the Rose Bowl will benefit Kidz1stFund.

This has been a long-time battle for the Frohnmayers, who created The Fanconi Anemia Research Fund in 1989 to fund grants for critical FA efforts and to support affected families.

Over the past quarter century, FARF has raised more than $29 million to support families and fund more than 100 doctors and researchers worldwide all racing to find a cure.

All funds raised by Oregon as part of this Touchdown Pledge Drive from the Rose Bowl will benefit FARF.

“Because of these aggressive efforts, we’re beginning to find ways to combat this disease that was once a total mystery and an immediate death sentence for children,” Dave Frohnmayer said.

Ethan Fisher and Amy Frohnmayer are two of less than 1,000 people in the United States diagnosed with Fanconi anemia.

Nearly 100 percent of FA patients need high-risk bone marrow transplants before adulthood, and even then, survivors have an estimated median life span of only 33 years.