When the varsity football and girl's flag football teams from Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School boarded buses after school, they thought they were going to have a meal together. Imagine their surprise when they ended up in the parking lot of Dick’s Sporting Goods in Buckhead.
Then it happened.
Atlanta Falcons star Calais Campbell emerged from the store to greet them and he received a round of applause. Campbell spoke to the students and joined them for photos, then the teams received gift cards to go into the store and buy things that they needed.
Campbell worked through the Falcons to find a team from an underserved school. The six-time Pro-Bowler saw a reflection of himself in the Washington High School students.
“The biggest thing for me was being involved in the community,” says Campbell. “I remember being a young kid and going to school. It was always hard when your feet grow and you need new shoes. Let me just help some kids who need a fresh pair. I wanted to take them to a place where they could get a nice pair of shoes and some other stuff, like sports gear. The big thing was finding some kids that needed something and doing a good deed.”
It started as a back-to-school project for Campbell and the Falcons, but as fate would have it the shopping trip came on the heels of the 100th sack of his long NFL career. Now the BTW Bulldogs were sharing in the celebration for the milestone event recorded by a big man with a bigger heart. Washington head coach Justen Rivers hopes that the students will be inspired by Campbell’s accomplishments and generosity.
“We are grateful,” exclaimed Rivers. “Anytime you get a chance to get an NFL player who just got 100 sacks and a milestone guy to come in and help our football team out its amazing. We appreciate Calais, we appreciate the Falcons, we just appreciate everybody involved for allowing these kids to just be in the presence of a man like him.”