Donor Spotlight
Trae Waynes
Michigan State means the world to me. They have given me everything; from a scholarship, the opportunity to play in the big ten, meeting my wife there, and also meeting some of my closest friends. The Michigan State family is my family.
Michigan State Athletics received a leadership commitment from Trae and Kyra Waynes for the Tom Izzo Football Building, the new 65,000-square-foot addition to the Skandalaris Football Center and Duffy Daugherty Football Building. Trae specifically wanted his name connected with the new nutrition center, another way MSU is dedicated to having state-of-the-art facilities and amenities for its student-athletes.
“I'm giving back to MSU because this contribution is how I can help elevate programs and better the experience for Spartan student-athletes,” said Trae. “Michigan State prepared me for success in the NFL and it started with the coaches. They taught us hard work, discipline, accountability and many more lessons to help mentally and physically prepare us to play at the next level. In addition, the young men they recruited and brought into the program were hungry. We all wanted to compete at the highest level and most importantly win! I bring that same hunger and the lessons I learned from MSU to the business world. It taught me how to navigate the 'real world', to build relationships, and how to prepare. Whether it was for an exam or the opposing team each week, the biggest thing I took from that program was the skill of preparation.
Trae Waynes is a tremendous football player, who also has been a great ambassador for our football program.
Following his success on the field as a three-year letterwinner (2012-2014) and two-year starter at cornerback for the famed “No Fly Zone” at Michigan State, a first-round selection (No. 11 overall) by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2015 Draft, and sevenyear NFL player with the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals, Trae and his wife Kyra started Home Grown Outfitters and Love The Grind TV. Home Grown Outfitters (Wisconsin) brings clients in from all over the U.S. and Love The Grind TV showcases the innovation and world-class habitat design and donor feature strategies of the outfitter industry. Trae and Kyra's goal with both ventures was to have a positive impact on current and future outdoorsmen and women.
“I knew I didn't want to play football forever so I started looking into other business ventures outside of football so I could eventually walk away on my own terms and still be okay financially,” Trae said. “I retired from the NFL after making it to the 2022 Super Bowl in LA. Though walking away from the game I loved while still having several years left in me was bittersweet, I knew it was time. We now have four kids and reside full time on our ranch out west. We also have three dogs, four horses, and five barn cats. There's never a slow day in our house!
Waynes adds, “As alumni of our university, we need to be the example to the students by showing continuous support for MSU so that when they graduate and start life outside of college, they will follow suit and help MSU progress as an elite university.”