Here’s how it’s properly done, Michael Scott.
Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made a promise to provide a college scholarship to a girl he met last year, if she sufficiently improved her grades. She came through, and so has Sherman.
As explained by Wes McElroy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sherman will make good on his vow to Varina High School graduate Hershai James.
The promise was made last year, and honored this year, at an event organized by NFL Network’s Michael Robinson, a former teammate of Sherman’s in Seattle. Robinson combines a Celebrity Waiter Dinner and a Football Camp to benefit the Excel to Excellence Foundation.
“It goes back to knowledge is power and if you have knowledge you’re going to be as powerful as you ever want to be,” Sherman said. “Nobody stops anybody from reading and educating themselves. Mike [Robinson] is only trying to empower these kids to be everything that they can be and if we can help with that with our presence, with our [autographed] jerseys [to be auctioned], with our words, we’ll do everything we can.”
For Sherman, it also ended up being money out of his pocket. Though no one is disclosing how much he’ll pay, it was enough of a carrot to inspire Hershai James.
“When my senior year began, I definitely had the scholarship in my head as motivation,” James said. “Having something to look forward to helped. It’s like saying my hard work and dedication had paid off.”
Given that Memorial Day weekend typically generates a negative headline regarding an NFL player who finds trouble (or vice-versa), it’s good to have something like this to tip the balance the other way.