Evening things out

In the wake of the ridiculousness that is Cedric Benson and Pacman Jones, as a football fan it was really great to read this story by Peter King about an Iowa town of about 1,800 that was struck by a tornado a couple of weeks ago. This was the hometown of four current NFL players, including Green Bay defensive end Aaron Kampman, who rushed back home as soon as he heard the news.

I strongly suggest you read the entire article, because it does show that not all NFL players are the selfish bastards that have been making the news lately. Here's a snippet:

When Kampman walked a couple of blocks over to his high school football coach's house, his heart sank. Thomas and his wife were outside ... outside of nothing but rubble.

"I see Aaron coming,'' Thomas said, "and I just started crying. I lost it. And he gives me a big hug and says, 'Coach, everything will be OK.'"

Kampman stayed for the day and was one of a swarm of volunteers who removed rubble, chain-sawed fallen trees and worked the phones trying to raise money for relief efforts. The other NFL guys from the area pitched in too, vowing to come and help the recovery and send aid.

Nice to see NFL players who understand there's something bigger than themselves.