As you probably know Jason Witten is all about giving back, and it hasn’t changed this year as well. This guy has been making visits to children hospitals from 2003, which is basically the beginning of his rookie career with the Cowboys. He turned that into a team tradition which is looked forward to every holiday season.
On Monday, Witten gave a statement in which he said “There was a little girl that we had an opportunity to see, and to see her light up, the smile on her face — her dad light up, talking about football. That’s all part of the reason we do what we do and the platform that we have. Being a father myself, I know how fortunate it is to have the health of your kids. To offer a hug or a smile or a high five, it goes a long way.” This is why the entire team, including cheerleaders, took time on yesterday to make visits to 4 children’s hospitals and spread some holiday cheers. The hospitals in question were the ones in the Dallas-Fort Worth area – Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Children’s Medical Center Dallas and Medical City Children’s Hospital.
The holidays are a difficult period to be in the hospital and for those in need of treatment, even more when children are involved, but thanks to UnitedHealthcare the team can alleviate some of the stress and pain simply by giving away free hugs and high fives. That is the one thing that is always nice to see and according to center Travis Frederick “It’s always amazing when we get a chance to come out to a place like this and see the kids and see the smiles that we can bring to their faces. Often times it brings perspective to us that we play a game for a living, and whether we’re winning or losing, it doesn’t mean anything compared to a lot of these kids that are fighting for their lives.” Linebacker Jaylon Smith also stated that “Playing for the Dallas Cowboys, we’re on a great platform to be able to give back and put a smile on someone’s face. It’s something we’re good at, it’s something we love, and it’s healthy for us as well. It’s a blessing.”
The one person who is guiding the entire Cowboys team throughout the local children’s hospitals, for their last 29 years, is one and only Mrs. Gene Jones. And pretty much every year kids get, what the team calls, a “game sock” and it is loaded with the stuff from Cowboys plus there is also a special toy that comes directly from the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation. As for the team, they are still in the playoff hunt after they managed to take a 38-14 win over the Washington Redskins last Thursday. The next game that is ahead of them is against the New York Giants, and it’s going to be make-or-break for them, but before that, this week of bringing joy to children should recharge their batteries and get their head off the game for a little while.
