After winning the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of The Year Award, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward’s The Heyward Foundation has come under scrutiny. A report by The Arizona Republic revealed that the foundation had its 501(c)(3) status revoked in May 2022 after failing to file federal tax returns for three consecutive years. The status was retroactively reinstated in November 2023, but “is missing or has otherwise failed to account for tens of thousands of dollars, according to experts who reviewed the organization’s tax records from 2015-18,” per the report.
The issues reportedly boil down to the hiring of Erik Bescher, who served as the foundation’s paid tax preparer from 2015-2018. Bescher was hired by Heyward’s mother, Charlotte Heyward-Wesley because she knew Bescher’s wife. Per Bescher, his wife was a sports massage therapist whose first client was Cameron’s father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward. Despite running EB’s Tax Service in Flowery Branch, Ga., Bescher and his wife had twice previously filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Bescher had no formal schooling in accounting or finance, with a stint in Bible school and culinary school his only formal education.
In 2015 and 2016, there was $226,000 missing from what The Heyward Foundation ended the year with and what it filed for its returns, per The Arizona Republic. In 2018, the foundation stopped filing returns, and as a result, had its 501(c)(3) status as an organization exempt from federal income tax revoked. Heyward-Wesley had signed each tax return but said that she and Cameron and others in the foundation were “misguided and misinformed.”
Recently, CPA Geoffrey Rorabaugh, rebuilt the books of the Heyward Foundation going back to 2019 and did file the missing tax returns, which is why the organization’s 501 (c)(3) status was reinstated back in November. Bescher told The Arizona Republic he was in over his head filing tax returns for non-profits and that’s why he stopped doing them. He took full responsibility for the errors.
“Charlotte should have been able to trust me. And if she did not get a clear understanding that I stopped doing those because I was in over my head, that’s my fault for not telling her. It’s not her fault. It’s not Cameron’s. I will accept full responsibility for making the mistakes. But it was not done with malice. I just wanted to help an old friend because she didn’t know where to turn,” Bescher said via the report.
The Arizona Republic has looked into multiple former Walter Payton Man Of The Year winners and issues with their non-profits, publishing a story called Mismanagement Of The Year before the NFL Honors award show in 2023. Heyward is not the first WPMOY winner who has had issues with his organization. The Republic’s report reveals that many spent less than 50 cents to every $1 on charity work itself and more on fundraisers and other events with the approval of the NFL and NFLPA.
Heyward-Wesley has vowed for the organization to be better, and she’s taking actionable steps to make sure the same mistakes don’t happen again. She registered for the Sports Philanthropy Executive Certificate Program at The George Washington School of Business in Washington D.C., which should prevent any further issues from occurring. Surely, the Heyward family will be more on top of things as it relates to the foundation.
It doesn’t appear that there was any ill intent on the part of Cameron Heyward or his family, and most affiliated with the foundation likely were unaware of what was going on. In fact, Heyward-Wesley said she wasn’t aware the 501 (c)(3) status was revoked until after she was told by a donor. It seems like it was more a case of ignorance and malpractice, one that the foundation has been and is continuing to work to fix. It certainly doesn’t discredit from the work that Heyward has done for the community and all the work The Heyward House does to benefit communities in and around Pittsburgh. It’s unfortunate that the mistakes happened, but it’s clear Heyward, who declined comment for the report, and his mother are committed to fixing them.
