Rodgers, Packers, Making Wishes Come True
By Aaron Nagler on Aug 12, 2010 with 11 Comments
I'm sorry - I'm sitting here with tears just streaming down my cheeks (it's the whole father-of-three-girls-this-could-be-my-kid thing) reading this story from Lori Nickel about young Anna Schmidt, a 13 year old girl who this past March went through heart transplant surgery. Today, through the amazing work of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Anna got to meet Aaron Rodgers, who in turn made sure that she and her family got to meet a good number of Packer players.
From Nickel's piece:
She's looking forward to telling her friends about her special day Thursday, when right after she got a tour of Lambeau Field, Anna walked off the practice field carrying Rodgers' helmet. She chatted up the quarterback like they were old friends.
The special union was granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which works with children with life-threatening medical conditions, in conjunction with ESPN SportsCenter's "My Wish" series. Anna's wish will be televised at an undetermined date.
Anna said Rodgers "was a really nice guy."
According to Brian, the quarterback rode from practice to Lambeau Field on Anna's bike and then spent more than an hour having lunch with her. He pulled his teammates over, one after another, and introduced them to Anna. She spent a lot of time with Al Harris and got the autographs of running back Ryan Grant and kicker Mason Crosby.
"Donald Driver had the morning off but he still came over just for this and spent a lot of time with Anna," her father said.
Rodgers asked Anna about her heart and her ordeal. Her brother, Austin, loved every minute of his day with the Packers. The team is inviting the family to the preseason game Saturday against Cleveland.
Yes, its a simple meet and greet and some time spent chatting with a young girl and her family. But I'm telling you, I've seen first hand the kind of positive impact these kinds of encounters can have on not only a single child but the kid's family as a whole.
Read the whole story. Truly a miracle.
Filed Under: Aaron Rodgers • Featured
As a father of 1 girl, I can’t possibly empathize if I wanted to. Rodgers could fail miserably and still exhude class. Great story, props to those players that made it a point to connect with she and her family. Does anybody care about something so trivial as a ‘CBA’ when this makes a kid so fullfilled?
Sadly, I still care. Great heartwarming story, I still need football in ’11 though or I’m gonna be needing some happy pills or somethin’. You are right though, in the big scheme of things that shit shouldn’t matter.
GBP 4 LIFE
with my first child roughly 6 weeks left in the womb, it’s a girl if your wondering, and my 2 yr old nephew who had open heart surgery at 3 months of age hearing stories of people who can tend to be larger than life take the time for this it is great. Way to go Aaron and Al and Donald and all the others, the family truly appreciates it. Thanks for sharing this.
I volunteer for MAW and I seen 1st hand how this does help kids..
My son is a Wish Kid from over 5 years ago and he STILL talks about his Disney Trip..
I know that players do this all the time but sometimes its just a fast photo op and an autograph..So when players do go the extra mile it means more to the kids
I have heard stories about sick kids all my life and although unsettling it never hit me as hard until i had two beutiful girls of my own. Stories like this warm my heart and i respect any sport star who goes out of his way to make a sick childs day.
MAW is a wonderful foundation and I applauded their efforts. BTW, father of three, 1 boy, two girls. I use to travel way to much and gathered many frequent flyer miles. Well my wife hates to fly so instead of the miles being wasted, I donated over 300,000 miles to MAW (BTW, nice tax deduction I found out later). Got a really nice letter of thanks from the organization.
It is so great to see the Packers make ful use of Anna’s day. An event that will remain with her, the family, and Aaron forever. Our players are a class act.
Great stuff.
GBP 4 LIFE
Jimmy V.(Valvano)went out of his way to make us feel welcome when my son at age 2 had leukemia. One heck of a person. Anyone who performs that role is a great person.
Wow, what a great moment for all involved. To Aaron Rodgers: You are one hell of an individual. I know that this team is going to fight for you as you have fought for others as well as yourself. Thank you Anna for showing us your will to fight. And thank you Teddy for making this all happen for us.
I love stories like this. I wish more players took the time to make the day of a kid who could really use it. I also would like to see more press for the players who do donate their time and fame.
a wish to come true for young packer fan and our prayers.