COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — Texas A&M safety Marcus Ratcliffe has been named to the All-State Good Works team for his work in the community, a passion he says is rooted in his faith.
"Just mainly as a Christian, I feel like giving back is something I'm commanded to do, and pour into others, and so, with starting a charity, with helping out little kids play youth football or whatever I'm doing, I just, I wanna pour back into other people," Ratcliffe said.
Good works getting recognized. 👏
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) September 15, 2026
Marcus Ratcliffe has been named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and a semifinalist for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy.#GigEm | @RatcliffeMarcus pic.twitter.com/d6CtCWpFQv
When Ratcliffe transferred to Texas A&M two years ago with a new NIL deal, he knew he wanted to give back.
"Started when I first had transferred to Texas A&M. I sat down with my agent, and we had a talk about how I could use the NIL I was getting to help some group of people out. So we sat down and threw out some ideas, and I came up with the idea of I want to help veterans out," Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe started a charitable initiative called Mission 312. For every turnover the Aggies force, he donates $312 to help send World War II veterans to Normandy. He says seeing the impact it has made has been humbling.
"We had a dinner, and a World War II veteran by the name of Ray had came out. And I got to meet him and talk to him and sit there and hear his stories and hear his life story. And for me, it was really humbling because I think everyone kind of thinks what they're going through is hard, and until you hear someone else's story about what they're going through, it doesn't even compare," Ratcliffe said.
Now he wants to take his involvement a step further.
"One of the things that we've been talking about is me going out to Normandy with some of the World War II veterans and going on the trip with them and getting to experience that with them, and I really want to do that," Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe is 1 of 11 players in the running for the Wuerffel Trophy, which recognizes community service, academic and athletic achievements. Fans can vote for Ratcliffe at ESPN.com/Allstate.
