Real Life Heros

“There used to be heros; athletes that kids could look up to as role models…” my grandmother reminded me today. “Maybe there still is.” she said referring the athletes who participated in Lee Evans’ Celebrity Flag Football game last weekend.

I was telling my grandmother about the Ohio Homecoming and some of the events, including the flag football game… I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with several professional and former professional athletes… I was very impressed with what I witnessed.

Professional athletes – Lee Evans, Joe Haden, TJ Ward, David Lighty, Dallas Lauderdale, Dustin Fox and many others gave back to their community, gave back to their fans.

There are still “real life heros”, role models do exist! Unfortunately, the media only reports on “the good” that professional athletes do about once a year… when the Walter Payton “Man of the Year” award is announced. I believe there is a lot of giving back by these athletes that goes unreported and I think that should change.

I don’t care that Pacman Jones got in another bar fight… I don’t care that Cedric Benson beat up a family member… I don’t care that Kenny Britt got arrested again. (Fox Sports actually ran an article on “NFL arrests since lockout“)

I do care about athletes giving back. I’d rather read articles like this -> 10 Stars making the most of the lockout or this -> Peyton Manning’s foundation doubles giving. Thank you to Peyton and many other athletes for being role models…for being “real life heros”!

The next time you witness or hear about an athlete giving back – spread the news! Let’s start a “good news” revolution.