Jocks with juiced-up hearts: it's easy to focus on the crummy stuff in sports, but there are lots of players who win big off the field

Sporting News, The, Nov 29, 2004 by Joe Buck

I will use my space this week to make nice. I want this column to uncover the people and situations in my professional life for which I am thankful this holiday season. After all, I have alienated so many readers with my views on topics such as the many personalities of this year's N.L. MVP winner, my disappointment that Star Jones officially is off the market and my pick to win the 2004 NFC championship, the Carolina Panthers. Amazingly, the SPORTING NEWS wants me to continue these columns, so this one will be a departure of sorts.

Though most of America is under the impression professional athletes spend the week on conference calls with each other, comparing bank accounts, rap sheets and touchdown celebration dances, the truth is sports still are filled with good people who enjoy what they do for a living. Believe me, if rosters were made up of all bad guys, I wouldn't get butterflies every time I walked into Lambeau Field or Fenway Park to do a game. I cannot wait to see these guys perform, and their personal stories make it all the more exciting. I want to tell you why these guys are worthy of our adulation and attention.

For instance, did you know that every Christmas, instead of just writing a check, Donovan McNabb dresses up as Santa Claus and visits kids at a children's hospital in Philadelphia? It was his idea, and the kids get entertained by a man who is an extraordinary leader of the Eagles, the best team in the NFC. How about Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and his "Peyton's Pals" program? In addition to donating funds to help provide leadership and growth opportunities for youths at risk, he plays flag football with kids who have been removed from their homes after being abused or neglected.

Elton Brand of the Clippers donated $235,000 to help develop a reading and learning center in his hometown of Peekskill, N.Y., for underachieving, at-risk 13- to 17-year-old students who will work toward the requirements needed to finish high school. Torii Hunter is heavily involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Marquis Grissom sponsors 12 youth baseball teams and provides their transportation while also supporting homeless kids through Boys & Girls Clubs. These are just a few of the hundreds of examples of extraordinary people who run or skate around in the uniforms of your favorite teams.

We all get so hung up on the negative, we overlook all of the help these privileged athletes bring to so many people. I am guilty as well. There are so many chances during the course of a three-hour game telecast to tell these tales. Instead of showing Terrell Owens stalking McNabb up and down the sideline in Pittsburgh for the third time from a different angle, maybe the broadcast's focus could be shifted. I am not saying issues like steroids should be swept under the rug or that a court case involving a star athlete should be ignored. They are part of the story of the game that night. But it seems all too easy to forget the difference some of these guys are making away from the spotlight.

There, I feel better. Next time, I think 131 write about Mike Danton just to balance things out.