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Friday, January 3, 1997

Teaming up for kids: Cowboys hope good deeds dim glare of bad press

By Berta Delgado / The Dallas Morning News (Jan. 3, 1997)

DALLAS (KRT) - Dale Hellestrae shook his head as he watched the cameras recording his brawny Dallas Cowboys' teammates hugging and playing with fragile children in a packed hospital auditorium.

"You see the TV cameras and all that, and that's not what we're out here for," said the 12-year Cowboys' veteran, one of many team members who recently visited children at five area hospitals. "We're out here for the kids and to hopefully give them a little hope for the future and to brighten up their day."

Cowboys cuddling up to kids isn't what fans have seen on front pages of newspapers and on their television screens these days. Much of this season's Valley Ranch news has centered on the team's seven drug suspensions in two years. Most recently, Leon Lett was suspended for the second time in two seasons for violating the National Football League's drug policy. That suspension occurred after Michael Irvin's highly publicized suspension after a drug-related case.

Bad publicity has far outweighed the good in the eyes of the players.

Most say they would prefer to do their good deeds without public attention. But they say that if they don't seek publicity for hospital visits or their involvement with charitable organizations or the works of their foundations, the public will hear or read only negative stories about off-the-field Cowboys.

"It's a Catch-22 because most of us don't want to be perceived as doing things just so people know we're doing good things," said Hellestrae, a backup offensive lineman who donates much of his off time to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's North Central Texas Chapter.

"Most guys are doing good things because it's from the bottom of their hearts. And if you don't go to the media or the media doesn't come to you to ask what you're doing, really, the only thing you're going to hear about are the bad things."

The only people aware of the nice gestures are the players themselves and the people involved, Hellestrae said. And in this case, it was more than 50 ill children and their families at Children's Medical Center who were on the receiving end.

Just a few feet from Hellestrae, teammate Herschel Walker knelt to reach the tiniest and sickest of patients. He'd caress their little heads or rub their arms, anything to get them to smile.

When Cesar Espinoza rolled up in a wheelchair hours before surgery on a broken elbow, Walker took right to ribbing the 14-year-old. Walker joked with the boy about preferring the picture handed to him by a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader over the team picture he'd received from a player.

"That's okay," Walker said laughing. "I like that one best, too."

The teen from nearby Balch Springs, Texas, smiled broadly. A Cowboys fan for as long as he can remember, Cesar said meeting his heroes helped make a scary day easier.

"It tells me that they have time to help the children," Cesar said. "And he (Walker) is really funny, and he looks like he's having fun."

Jasmine Wilferd could see it, too. Her big blue eyes lit up when Walker started talking to her. He called over Hellestrae for a picture, and the two players sat on either side of the red wagon the 10-year-old girl was lying in.

Jasmine, who has cerebral palsy, and the other kids left with autographed team pictures, tree ornaments and an official Cowboys game sock filled with sports goodies.

Benjamin Howard didn't get a sock, but he said he got much more. The 16-year-old boy from suburban Carrollton, Texas, who suffers from Crohn's disease, was able to get just a handful of signatures on his team picture because he walked in late. As the auditorium cleared out, he was glad to see Walker still signing autographs.

Walker signed Benjamin's photo, adding "John 3:16," his favorite verse: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

And Benjamin, a devout Christian, said he left knowing that Walker was another Cowboys player to look up to.

Walker downplayed publicity players receive for performing good deeds - something he believes is their duty. Meeting kids like Benjamin is what grabs at his heart.

"What matters is whether I'm doing what is right," Walker said. "Because the thing is, when it's all said and done, the only judge I'll have for myself is the Lord Jesus Christ, nobody else."

Brian Ransom, agent for Cowboys linebacker Darrin Smith, said the media not only focus on the negative, they also shy away from players' strong religious beliefs.

"A lot of people (in the media) don't take Darrin's Christianity and spirituality serious," he said. "Darrin's real commitment and feeling of responsibility is as a Christian person. Whether he's playing or not, he would do what God put in his reach to do. As a professional athlete, he realizes he has the opportunity to reach the masses."

Smith recently teamed with the American Red Cross to raise awareness nationwide about the need for blood donations, especially among minorities. He also has participated in national fund-raisers, including one this year to finance research on sickle cell anemia. A Miami native, Smith spends much of his off-season doing motivational speaking at high schools, colleges and universities in South Florida.

Emmitt Smith, another Florida native, recently established a program through Emmitt Smith Charities to help underprivileged teens in the Pensacola area go to college.

"There's no need to sound the alarm on what you're doing," he said. "Some people think that if we sound that alarm, it's, 'Hey, look at me, look at me.' That's not what we really want.

"We're not saying to pat us on the back for all the good we do and not talk about us when we do things bad. I mean, it goes both ways. If you're going to write about the good, you're going to have to write about the bad. But if you're going to write bad, you definitely need to write things that are worth talking about, things that are going to change society."

Emmitt Smith said that even if a player were seeking publicity, unless he is a "star" he's not likely to get it.

And besides the popular running back, the biggest star on the team is Troy Aikman - who perhaps is the least likely to discuss his generosity.

"Troy just does not like to talk about the things he does," said Charlyn Aikman, his mother and a board member of the Troy Aikman Foundation.

But helping children is paramount to him, she said.

In August, Aikman helped unveil a high-tech playroom at Children's Medical Center. Known as Aikman's End Zone, the area has a theater, an interactive computer network and a six-ton saltwater aquarium. A similar playroom is under construction at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.

Mrs. Aikman said San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young plans to fund similar facilities in hospitals there and in Salt Lake City. She said the two quarterbacks also plan to approach the National Football League about funding playrooms in hospitals in every city with a professional football team.

"When Troy came to us with the idea, he believed it would provide patients with the means of traveling beyond the hospital walls ... (to) go places and do things they otherwise were unable to do," said Brian Alford, a spokesman for Children's Medical Center in Dallas. "We've been successful in doing that."

Alford said many Cowboys, as well as athletes from other Dallas-area professional teams, are very involved with the hospital. He said Aikman goes online with children in hospitals across the country during the off-season. Teammate Tony Casillas, meanwhile, has done public service announcements for the hospital.

"Players like Jason Garrett, out of the kindness of their hearts, come down to the hospital one to two times a month and read to the kids," Alford said. "It's their own doing, not ours."

Chris Martin, director of communications for the March of Dimes' North Texas Chapter, said the same about Cowboys' safety Bill Bates.

"He and his wife and children have just been amazing for us," she said. "They give freely of their time, and I know their schedule is very busy."

She said Bates helps motivate volunteers, rounds up autographed footballs for fund-raisers, chairs campaigns and makes appearances on behalf of the organization. With such a "treasure" in Bates, Martin believes the disgraceful incidents involving players are isolated.

"Probably the majority are involved in charity," she said of the players. "As far as Bill's concerned, there's a lot more positive that could be focused on."

Bates said he loves helping out and loves seeing his teammates giving back to the community.

"Troy, Emmitt, the list goes on and on of people doing things in our community," he said. "To see Emmitt go to schools and talk about graduation and how important it is to go to school and talk about getting that degree is very special.

"There are so many people who don't get a chance to talk to the media who would tell you some extremely great stories," Bates said. "But the guys aren't going to tell you who those people are."

Cowboys' kicker Chris Boniol said even if players aren't heavily involved in the community, just being a good person and good citizen should be viewed as positive.

"How often do you hear whether or not a player goes home to his wife and kids?" he said. "That's something everybody's supposed to do, but I really believe people would be interested in things like that because you see another side of it that you seldom hear about.

"You do hear about some good things, but I think they're overshadowed by all the bad."

(c) 1996, The Dallas Morning News.

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