So many professional athletes exemplify the "less" in "classless." (Gilbert Arenas? Plaxico Burress? Or how about my personal favorite thug, Allen Iverson?) While children all over the world look up to these multi-million dollar men as role models, many rarely live up to that part.
But then someone like Scott Fujita comes along. Fujita, a former linebacker for the New Orleans Saints who recently signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns, has proven himself an exemplary man before. Several times he has spoken out about homophobia and equal rights, not understanding why whom a person chooses to love should be anyone's business, and why anyone should be deserving of less-than-equal rights.
While that already endeared him to me, his parting gesture as he left New Orleans for Cleveland really sealed the deal:
He gave half of his Super Bowl check to charity, half of that going to relief efforts in Haiti, and the other half going to coastal restoration in New Orleans.
Now, it's one thing for an athlete with the earning potential of say, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, to make a sizeable donation to charity. But when someone like Scott Fujita does it? To me, it's more than a gesture—it's a true act of class.
I wish more athletes would prove themselves worthy of being admired, or at least the ones deserving of admiration would get the recognition they deserve, instead of publicity for, let's say, alleged sexual assault, bringing guns to a locker room or just being an all-around thug.
But if that happened, what would I have to complain about then?
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