When it comes to professional athletes, we want our kids looking up to people who are role models both on the field and off.
For one mom this week, Mohamed Sanu was just that.
Mohamed Sanu Sr.
The Atlanta Falcons wide receiver and Rutgers alum was headed to New Jersey for a spring football game at his alma mater, when a woman seated behind him on the flight approached him with a letter.
She handed him a folded up piece of paper and told him to read it later, before walking away.
It turns out that while #12 spent his flight deep in his playbook, the family behind him spent their flight, deep in admiration.
The letter read:
“You don’t know us, but we wanted to thank you.”
Mohamed Sanu Sr.
The woman explained that she and her family were on their way to Connecticut for her 10-year-old son’s hockey training. She said that the young boy had studied the football player’s every move for the entire flight.
“He saw you studying your plays, watched you make healthy choices with your snacks, food and drink, he watched how polite you were to everyone.”
Mom was impressed by Sanu’s actions, and grateful for the positive example he’d set for her son.
“You are an inspiration to children and for that you should be proud! Thank you and best of luck! The family that sat behind you :)”
When the Falcons player later read the letter as instructed, he tweeted a photo of it saying, “This definitely put a smile on my face…the little things.”
It’s not every day that you have the excitement of sharing a flight with a pro-football player. For one 10-year-old athlete, there’s no doubt that Mohamed Sanu was a source of inspiration in his young sports journey.
