With the lockout bringing the NFL world to a screeching halt, we’ve seen a number of stories this morning about what players are doing with their time off. David Bruton of the Broncos is working as a substitute teacher. Tennessee’s Jamie Harper is crowded into a three-bedroom trailer with nine family members.
And now we have the feel-good story of the day: Bears rookie J.T. Thomas has served as the date to a school dance to a girl who’s confined to a wheelchair.
The girl, 14-year-old Joslyn Levell, lives in Morgantown, West Virginia, where Thomas played his college football. Thomas met her because she rides the same bus as his brother, who is autistic, and on Friday Thomas escorted her to her end-of-school-year formal dance Friday.
“I’m not used to the attention, but I like it,” Levell told Steve Wyche of NFL.com. “It’s been amazing. I can’t wait to hear what everybody has to say.”
Thomas has been the subject of a lot of media attention since the nice gesture became public, but he says he’s not particularly interested in that.
“This was Joslyn’s night,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t about me.”
But it was a good example of an NFL player finding something good to do with his time off.