A Great Football Story

[jbg]

Compared to some real selfish, immature, publicity seeking @ssholes in the sports and entertainment world, this story shines. I can't see how it wouldn't bring tears to your eyes. Excerpts below:

Josh Cribbs walks with

late coach's son on his senior night

(link)

In a dismal year for the Cleveland Browns, wide receiver/returner Josh Cribbs has proved to be one of the only bright spots. Last month he showed he's equally good off the field.

The Pro Bowler traveled to Berea, OH to walk onto the field on senior night with the son of one of his former college coaches. Michael Drake, a senior receiver at Stow High School, lost his father, Mike, in 2005 to lymphoma. He had assumed he'd be accompanied by his mother and sister for senior night introductions and was stunned when he saw Cribbs arrive minutes before the game.

*************************

It's a small gesture, but it says a lot about the character of Cribbs. He apparently didn't feel the need to talk about it publicly; this happened Oct. 30 and, as far as I can tell, yesterday's report in the Akron Beacon Journal is the first it's been mentioned. Similarly, Drake's mother is quoted in the piece as saying that Cribbs took great pains to underplay his presence at the game for fear of taking away the spotlight from Michael and the other seniors. This shows a humility that other professional football players could sometimes stand to emulate.

Edited November 16, 2009 by jbg

[PocketRocket]

It's my first time visiting this sub-category of this site, and so my first view of this.

Good post. With far too many examples of negative publicity coming out of the professional sports world, this is a little ray of sunshine, and shows that not all sports-pros are hopeless boors.

[jbg]

It's my first time visiting this sub-category of this site, and so my first view of this.

Good post. With far too many examples of negative publicity coming out of the professional sports world, this is a little ray of sunshine, and shows that not all sports-pros are hopeless boors.

Thanks for posting.

I have noticed that positive news threads get distressingly little attention.

[PocketRocket]

Thanks for posting.

It was a pleasure.

I have noticed that positive news threads get distressingly little attention.

Well, being that this is a political forum site, where people seem to come to verbally beat on each other, good news does not lend itself to arguing.....

[kimmy]

That is a very nice story.

I think that while some professional athletes get (and deserve) bad reputations for their ridiculous conduct, there are a lot of good people in professional sports as well... guys whose off-field conduct does not attract the attention. A lot of them devote a lot of time and effort to charities. It sounds like this young man just wanted to honor a friend who meant a lot to him.

It's an unfortunate fact that the media is more interested in the athlete who gets caught driving around in his Lexus with a joint the size of a submarine sandwich in his ashtray and an unregistered handgun in the glove compartment and 3 strippers in the back seat than they are to report on the guy who spends his off day going around the childrens' ward at the hospital visiting kids and signing autographs.

-k

[Guest American Woman]

This isn't about football, but it's another athlete-does-good story:

While Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most successful active NBA players, he never seems to sacrifice his character and personality through the fame and recognition.

After learning about a girl's tragic death through the national news, O'Neal was moved by what he saw. He stepped up to the plate and paid off the entire cost of the girl's funeral.

The kidnapped Shaniya Davis' funeral was held on Sunday, with more than 2,000 people gathered.

[...]

While Shaquille will go down as one of the best NBA centers to ever play the game, he will long be remembered and idolized by young fans for his contributions outside of the basketball arena.