When Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara was growing up, he wore the same pair of football cleats for three seasons. He wanted to make sure no one else had to go through that at Lincoln High School.
“Playing Pop Warner football, my coaches would have to buy my cleats,” Amukamara told Steven Sipple of the Lincoln Journal Star.
So remembering that, the former Nebraska star donated $10,000 worth of cleats and athletic gear to the high school near his alma mater.
Amukamara worked with former Husker Blake Lawrence to find a high school team that needed the help, and they settled on Lincoln High since they had a number of players struggling to afford new equipment.
“A lot of these kids don’t have much,” Lincoln coach Mark Macke said. “We’re always trying to find shoes for kids to wear. Or sometimes we just have to find the means to go out and get them. We don’t want a kid not to come out for football because he doesn’t have shoes.”
Amukamara met Lincoln officials when he spoke at an assembly this past spring, and realized he wanted to help.
“I just wanted to help motivate any way I can,” he said. “I’m sure a gesture like this could really help the players not only on the field, but in the classroom — just to show that somebody cares, that somebody here in the community is behind them.”
He’s far from the only player making such donations. But at a time when the players finding trouble are dominating the headlines, it’s worth noting that there’s a lot of good happening as well.