Chris Evans and the Rock support our troops with the 22 Pushup Challenge

Actor Chris Evans on-screen persona, Captain America, is as patriotic as they come. So it should be no surprise to anyone to find out that Evans himself supports America’s troops through thick and thin. 

Evans answered the call Monday for the 22 Pushup Challenge, an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge-type event that looks to raise awareness instead of funds. The loyalty of his dog Dodger, however, remains suspect.

The challenge appears to have originated with a veteran’s advocacy group called 22Kill, which was created in 2013 after founder Andrew Nguyen learned that in 2012, an average of 22 veterans died of suicide each day. (The number stands at 20 as of 2014.)

With its aim to get 22 million pledged pushups in an attempt to raise awareness for veterans issues, the organization spawned the hashtag #22Kill, which its site explains is “meant to grab people’s attention, because our primary mission begins with raising awareness to the issue.”

The most recent spate of celebrity participants seem to have been spawned by Chris Pratt (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), who was joined by wife Anna Faris (“Mom”) for his video. 

Pratt then challenged John Krasinski (“The Office”) who performed his pushups on concrete strewn with chalk drawings as his dog Finn looked on, not helping at all.

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Also challenged by Pratt was actor Vincent D’Onofrio (“Daredevil”) who performed his pushups with not one, but two dogs (Happy and Bo) looking on.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (“Central Intelligence”) was also challenged by Pratt and took time out of his persistent feud with Vin Diesel to perform his pushups while his dog Hobbs tried to actively deter him from his advocacy with puppy kisses.

As for Evans, he was challenged to pushups by Krasinski, only to have his efforts nearly foiled by anxious pup Dodger.

As we see what lengths Hollywood will go to to raise awareness for a worthy cause, the question remains: Why do their dogs hate America?

Time will tell if the 22 Pushup Challenge will stick around, but ideally it will lead to raised awareness and substantive change, much like the donations from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge led to the discovery of a gene linked to the disease. 

In the meantime, those American dogs can learn from this British pup who went all in on the pushup challenge. He knows a good cause when he sniffs it!

libby.hill@latimes.com

Twitter: @midwestspitfire