Unknown and some known sports heros

Everybody that knows me knows that i am big Denver Broncos fan but more important a huge John Elway fan. But it wasn't until an article written by Rick Reilly a few months ago that sealed the deal for me. It was a story about one of Rick's wife half brother, Lil Bob, and his son Jake. Lil Bob promised to take Jake to a Broncos, but never got the chance because this past March his liver failed. Jake took it hard and was struggling with every aspect that life offered. One of Lil Bob's friends bought tickets to a Denver game and they called up Rick Reilly, who lives in Denver, and took him to John Elways restaurant. Rick introduced them to John and Jake just froze. Elway then invited them up to his box for the game later that day and Jake couldn't leave his heroes side. Later into the day Jake called up his mom and started crying, which he hadn't done since his dad passed, and since that day started getting his act together and becoming the 13 year old he was before.

Or even people like Lyman Bostock, who was an up and coming star outfielder for the California Angels. He just recently signed a big contract at that time, 1977, and had a rough month where he batted around.150 and decided to give his monthly salary to charity stating " I just can't make that kind of money and not produce." It might sound like a cheesy pr stunt, but not with Lyman. I don't know if I've heard of many big name athletes doing that, just imagine A-Rod giving away his monthly salary, it might be enough to feed a couple of small countries.

Albert Pujols one of the most feared hitters in the game of baseball that ever played the game, and that is not just my thought, but everybody who knows a thing about baseball thinks the same way. He was recently stated in a Sports Illustrated article, " I don't want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community, and who gave back. That's the guy I want to be remembered as when I'm done wearing this uniform. That's from the bottom of my heart." Every year, Albert is the chairman for this charity called Buddy Walk, a charity for children who have downs syndrome. And almost every year a kid will ask him to hit a home run for them. In 2002, a 10 year old threw out the first pitch and when Albert handed the signed ball back to her, she requested a home run and he did in the first inning. Almost every year since then on the game after the Buddy Walk, Albert hits not just one, but on a couple of times, multiple home runs for the kids.

Warrick Dunn is an NFL running back who in 1993 lost his mother who was shot by gunmen robbing the Piggly Wiggly she went into to cash her paycheck. He helped raise his siblings while he was a star running back for the Florida State Seminoles. Here recently he came out with a book that tells of how he went to confront the accused man of shooting his mother and also facing his demons about the situation. If you just google his name, countless articles come out on how he buys houses and helps provide futures for down and out single mother families.

I know there are several other stories out there about athletes doing this type of stuff, but these are the one's that stand out to me. Roberto Clemente is one of the greatest and saddest stories like this. He was one of the greatest outfielders of his generation and is still considered to be one of the best to play the game. He was on a plane to Nicaragua to deliver aid to earthquake victims when his plane failed and crashed. His body was never recovered. He was known throughout the league to giving back to kids in Peurto Rico and other Latin countries. He remains a hero to me for his work off the field. I love hearing and following stories like these. To me, they separate the true athletes from the ones that just go out there and play. They use their name for the good of their sports and are role models to the younger generation.