OAKLAND RAIDER HAS A HUGE HEART

HEART FIXER--Menelik Watson, a pro-football player with the
Oakland Raiders, donated his game day paycheck to the family
of Ava Urrera to help pay medical expenses to fix her heart.

VALENTINE’S DAY SPIRIT—GUEST BLOG by Sporting News Blogger Troy Machir --Four-year-old Ava Urrera suffers from hypoplastic left heart syndrome — which means is simple terms — she has just half of a working heart. Doctors have not been as helpful as they could be, and the bills are piling up for her family.

During this past football season, Ava and her family got a chance to attend the Raiders' facilities as part of NFL on Fox insider Jay Glazer's Touchdown Dreams program. The family met with many of the players, including offensive lineman Menelik Watson, who provided a gift nobody could have expected.

Watson donated his game check for the week to the family.

According to NFLPA records, via Pro Football Talk, Watson's base salary this season is $622,948, meaning his weekly gross salary is $36,944. With federal and state taxes taking roughly half of that away, the net check is somewhere in the range of $18,000.

There weren't cameras rolling, and Watson wasn't in it for the publicity. He did it out of the goodness of his heart.  For that Watson's sincerity is especially gracious.

Image: Fox Network via Sporting News

Editor’s note:  Be nice if the taxman could kick in, too.