The word’ resiliency’ defines the journey of Mike Dempsey. Mike Dempsey was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York (Flatbush / Kensington) attending Midwood High School and graduating from the State University of New York at Albany where he played both football and baseball. An Arena Football League opportunity ended prematurely for Mike with the first of two ACL reconstructive surgeries and he later was forced to abandon his professional football hopes and dreams after a failed rehabilitation and comeback with Tampa Bay in the summer of 1995. After an aborted attempt with World Championship Wrestling’s Power Plant training facility ended prematurely later that year, Mike then embarked on a brand new career direction in banking and risk management with investment banking firm Salomon Brothers in Tampa the following year while completing an executive MBA in finance at Nova Southeastern University with a 3.97 GPA graduating summa cum laude. Salomon Smith Barney relocated Mike and his wife Amy back to New York a few years later.
While working for Credit Suisse First Boston in 5 World Trade Center, Mike was injured and hospitalized at NYU’s Beekman Hospital on September 11th, 2001 while trying to escape the second Tower when the second plane hit the Tower directly over him at 9:03am. Shortly thereafter, Mike became immersed in philanthropy and advocating for September 11th families and survivors through the WTC United Family Group and the Coalition of 9/11 Families. Mike leveraged his sports connections through the NFL alumni chapter groups and the New York Yankees to fundraise for the WTC United Family Group aka The September 11th Education Trust through Wall Street charity days (e.g. Cantor Fitzgerald Charity Day, BTIG Charity Day, etc). Mike led peer support programs such as the September 11th / Oklahoma City Family Exchange, which unites the September 11th community with the members of the Oklahoma City bombing community and is held each year in April and September.
Mike relocated with Credit Suisse to Raleigh, NC with his wife Amy and two daughters Kellie and Jenna in 2005. Mike’s risk management career continued to flourish as he joined the Federal Reserve as a lead examiner and team leader of large and complex bank organizations in Charlotte in 2010. Later that year, Mike joined KPMG as a practice leader in enterprise risk and regulatory safety and soundness traveling internationally all over North & South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia while he continued his philanthropic efforts and causes for the September 11th Education Trust and Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund as well as the NFL Alumni Association, Gridiron Greats, Hank’s Yanks, Mission Be, Voices of September 11th, Strength to Strength, the Johnny Damon Foundation, Tim Tebow Foundation, YCS, Marty Lyons Foundation, Heart of a Legend, Pro Athletes in Recovery, etc.
On Father’s Day June 21st, 2015; Mike’s baseball dreams came true when he was invited by the Yankees to play in an Old Timers Day in Scranton, PA with a sold-out crowd of 10,500 and his family in attendance to raise money for Parkinson’s disease while honoring Yankees 1978 World Series hero Brian Doyle who is battling Parkinson’s. Mike got a two RBI single off 4-time World Series champ Jeff Nelson in the second inning and played right-field and centerfield for 6 innings while leading his Yankees Gray team (captained by Mr. October Reggie Jackson and Gene ‘Stick’ Michael) to a 12-5 win over the Yankees Blue team captained by Charlie Hayes and Roy White.
On October 1st, 2017, Mike was in Las Vegas, Nevada for filming of an episode of the Animal Planet hit television show “Tanked” and was staying at the Mandalay Bay hotel during the Route 91 concert mass shooting and was outside the hotel when the shots were fired and ended up in lockdown during the chaos. Mike channeled his September 11th and Las Vegas experiences with PTSD, etc to help other victims and survivors’ families cope with their ‘new normal.’ Mike coordinated a roundtable for healing with Parkland MSD school shooting families and survivors with September 11th, Las Vegas, Columbine / Aurora, Boston Marathon, & other victims of terrorism in early 2019.
Over the years, Mike has also championed many causes to help special needs children and adults like his daughter Kellie who’s on the autism spectrum. Through his podcast ‘Dads & Daughters show” and its 24 episodes over 2 seasons, Mike and his daughters Kellie and Jenna tackled tough issues such as bullying / teen suicide, gun safety / school mass shootings, addiction and recovery, as well as highlighting the inspirational stories and accomplishments of individual ‘superheroes’ with Downs Syndrome, Tourettes, etc. Mike is active as a leader in UNC’s Autism Fathers conference network and speaks at events, conferences, and roundtables all over the country reflecting on his own personal stories of resiliency and living his best life to serve others. Mike has also been honored with awards and recognition from the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame, Mission Be / The Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance, The Risk Management Association Mid-South Chapter, etc. See the spectrum news interview with Mike and his daughter Kellie as they describe her ‘superpowers’ living on the autism spectrum by clicking the link below:
Mike currently serves as NFL Alumni Carolinas Chapter player engagement coordinator serving causes such as Shriners Hospital, ALS, etc. Mike has played as celebrity golfer recently in charity events such as Ron Jaworski celeb golf challenge, Mark Wahlberg Foundation Children’s Miracle Celeb Invitational, Shaquille O’Neal golf outing, Lawrence Taylor Family Foundation golf outing, Jim McMahon celeb golf for Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, and the Celebrity Legends golf tour in Atlanta / Tampa, Murray Brothers Caddyshack golf, Joe Maus Foundation celeb golf, Kawaan Short Charities, Donnie Shell Scholarship Foundation, and Catfish ALS classic.
