The pages of PFT are filled with all kinds of stories and far too many of them are about football players and/or teams behaving badly.
So it’s nice when we get a chance to feature the other side of things. One such opportunity presented itself Saturday when the Patriots went to Newtown, Connecticut to hold a football clinic for hundreds of kids between the ages of 6 and 14. Patriots owner Robert Kraft owns a company in Newtown, which was the site of the horrific murders of 20 children and six adults last December.
“As a part of the New England community, I think all of us were devastated when we saw what happened here and if it can happen in the town of Newtown, it could happen in any city or town in America,” Kraft said.
Around 30 current and former Patriots players, coaches and cheerleaders took part in the clinic, which saw more than 500 participants pre-register and more register on the day of the event. The Connecticut Post reports that Kraft got involved as well, playing cornerback against a youngster trying to catch a pass from tight end Rob Gronkowski and drawing calls for a pass interference flag when the receiver tripped over Kraft’s feet.
“Out of bad things, good things can happen, and the good here is to see the resilience and the mental toughness and support this community gave to one another,” Kraft said. “We saw it in Boston right after the horrible events on Patriots’ Day, the same way the community came together.”