Football fans at the 40th International Convention were treated to an appearance by two Pro Football Hall of Famers on May 12, who proved that worthy causes can tie even fierce rivals to one another.

Stephenson presented Green Bay Packers legend Jerry Kramer and Chicago Bears icon Mike Singletary with the IBEW Commitment to Excellence Award for their work as goodwill ambassadors for the National Child Identification Program, a longtime IBEW-supported organization. The program distributes identification kits to parents, who fill out personal information about their children and have it ready for law enforcement if they face the unthinkable terror of them going missing or being abducted.

The program was started by the American Football Coaches Association in 1997, about one year after the murder of Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas. Police efforts to locate Hagerman, whose body was found four days after she was abducted, were slowed by a lack of fingerprints and DNA information.

"We have our Code of Excellence," Stephenson said. "Both of these individuals exemplify that in what they do for their communities and what they continue to do in many ways."

Kramer was an offensive guard and 11-year member of the Green Bay Packers, playing for five NFL championship teams and two Super Bowl winners before retiring after the 1968 season. Singletary played for the Chicago Bears from 1981 to 1992 and is regarded as one of the best middle linebackers in NFL history.

Kramer is a longtime spokesman for the ID program and appeared with Stephenson at a Packers game in December 2019, during which the IBEW was honored for its commitment.

"I'm a lineman. Like most linemen, I'm a man of few words," Kramer said, which drew a hearty round of applause from the journeyman linemen in attendance.

"Most of my life, I've tried to be a better person tomorrow than what I was yesterday. I want to close the gap between where I'm at and what I want to become. I'm still doing that at 86 years of age."

Singletary got involved with child ID during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he learned from Kenny Hansmire, the program's executive director, that children of color are disproportionately abducted.

"There are 10 million families that have received ID kits because of the IBEW," Singletary said. "To me, that's outstanding. That's excellence."

Both men presented Stephenson with autographed helmets from their respective teams. Stephenson grew up a Green Bay fan. At the age of 11, he watched the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys in the legendary Ice Bowl game in his hometown of Moline, Ill., making him a lifelong fan, he said.

Stephenson added, however, he developed an affinity for the Bears during the Super Bowl-winning 1985 season, which he spent working in the Chicago area as a journeyman wireman.

"I can't tell Mike and Jerry how much I appreciate their friendship," he said. "It's an honor to be on the stage with them."