John Romano: The best Christmas present Bucs rookies never realized they needed

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Dec 24, 2024

Published in Football

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TAMPA, Fla. — The bus was revving, and the clock was calling. An afternoon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital had come to an end, and a dozen or more Bucs players were heading out the lobby doors.

A quick head count by Duke Preston, the team’s vice president of player engagement, told him he was missing a handful of his jumbo-sized Christmas carolers. He called upstairs to a colleague and was told there were three players who wanted to visit one more room. No problem, Preston said, let me know when they’re done.

A few minutes passed, and Preston got a text message. Hop on the bus and don’t worry about us was the gist.

The three players had decided to stick around.

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Transformational opportunities are what Preston calls these visits. Or at least, that’s how he sells it to young players.

It’s not just handshakes and autographs, it’s a chance to see the impact a professional athlete can have. An opportunity to touch lives and, in return, to experience real-world bravery and fear. Heartache and hope. Mostly, to understand empathy and compassion.

That’s what moved Tanner Knue, a rookie receiver on the practice squad, to call an audible during the trip to St. Petersburg two weeks ago along with tight end Devin Culp and offensive lineman Elijah Klein. The children, Knue said, had been told the Bucs were visiting. How could the players leave without making sure every child had been seen?

“We were told it was time to pack up, so we started rolling the (gift) cart towards the elevator,” Klein said. “That’s when Tanner took the initiative. He was like, ‘Nah, I’m going to stay behind.’ Everybody was like, ‘What are you talking about? Dude, we’ve got to get on the bus.’ He said, ‘No, just give me the cart. I’ll stay behind and Uber back.’ So Devin and I overheard and we’re like, ‘You know what? He’s right.’ There were some kids who were left out.

“It just didn’t seem right that we didn’t get a chance to visit everybody who wanted to see us.”

So, on they went for another hour or so. Handing out footballs, blankets, hats and other gifts.

They met parents, they talked to kids about video games, they pulled out handy cheat sheets with lyrics and sang Christmas carols. (“Honestly, Klein sounded pretty good,” Culp said. “We let him take the lead.”) They experienced everything Preston envisions with these monthly trips to various hospitals, Metropolitan Ministries and other community spots.

“What I try to help our rookies see is the kind of person they can be,” Preston said. “The impact they can have on other lives will last way longer than whatever they do on the scoreboard or between the white lines.”

Knue had been thinking about it for weeks ahead of the All Children’s visit. The players had made a previous stop at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, and it opened Knue’s eyes to what he might be able to offer.

“There’s a few times where you get teary-eyed, because you walk in a room and there’s some kid in a bed all alone during the holidays,” Knue said. “This one girl was so happy to see us, we hand her a couple of gifts and she’s like, ‘This is so awesome.’ You know she’s going through something hard and yet she’s so happy, it chokes you up.

“It’s an unbelievable experience. It makes you want to get out and do more in the community.”

Culp, a seventh-round pick out of Washington, had begun the day in a hurry. He was late getting to the team’s training center and missed the bus, so he drove himself across the bridge to meet his teammates at the hospital. When the visit was finished, he offered Klein and Knue a ride back and the three players rode in silence for 10-15 minutes as they processed the experience.

Eventually, they began swapping stories and sharing some laughs, but the day’s impact was not forgotten.

“There was one little boy, maybe 7 years old, and me and Klein walk in the room and it was just him in there by himself,” Culp said. “Can you imagine, at that age, a cancer patient hanging out by himself a couple of weeks before Christmas? It just gives you a new perspective, you know? We think we have it hard here sometimes, and it’s nothing compared to what they’re going through.

“At that age, you just want to be hanging out with your friends playing video games and having fun. But that normal teenage experience has been stripped away because of their illness. So we just felt it was important to see them, talk to them and let them know they’re valued.”