If you happen to have a full time job in sports right now, chances are you haven’t been able to do much other than sit on the couch and hope for some good news. Stadium workers in particular have been hit the hardest, as there’s absolutely zero chance that things will be back to normal any time soon. As teams have come to terms with the financial situation and lost revenue, it’s become the job of particularly generous players to help out these employee’s when the (ridiculously wealthy) team owners refuse to. Here are a few players who have helped out their community and team when they needed it most:
Zion Williamson
Right when lockdown started, there was an extreme sense of panic amongst pretty much everyone, and unemployment was hitting record high numbers. Luckily for folks who worked at New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center, rookie phenom Zion Williamson had their backs.
Zion Williamson is going to cover the salaries for Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days during the NBA hiatus pic.twitter.com/TIxn3f9ZGJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 13, 2020
Though there’s been some controversy with Zion recently, you can’t knock the guy for doing a legitimately good deed and endearing himself to his community even more than he already had. First impressions are important, particularly when you don’t get to show your stuff on the paint.
George Springer
Taking a page out of Zion’s book, Astros’ outfielder George Springer made a pledge to donate $100,000 to help out employees of Minute Maid Park. Numerous players across all sports have made similar commitments, and $100,000 seems to be the common theme. Not a bad chunk of change, but ownership could certainly afford to cover this and much more if they really felt like it!
Albert Pujols
Last month, the Angels announced that they will be furloughing a great deal of non-playing employees across the entire organization. To help combat a bit of the strain on his fellow countrymen in the Dominican Republic, Albert Pujols made a commitment to donate $180,000 in aid.
Albert Pujols pays $180,000 to support furloughed #Angels employees in the Dominican Republic: Pujols is helping fill the gaps the Angels left when they decided to furlough many of their employees https://t.co/o1zxxZTJud pic.twitter.com/jVnxlybTGT
— LA Angels Baseball News (@LAAngelsBB) June 19, 2020
It’s great to see players help out their communities, but the fact that they have to do it in the first place is absurd considering the profits that sports teams make.
