The Oakland Raiders may have a losing record, but what they did this past week makes them one of the biggest winners of the season in our book.
Ava Urrea is an adorable 4-year-old girl battling a rare heart condition. She was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and an absolutely amazing smile. And yesterday, she did nothing but show off that smile by spending the day with the Oakland Raiders.
Through Jay Glazer's Touchdown Dreams program, Ava, who has undergone more than 14 procedures for her condition, was named Raiders team captain for the day on Sunday and received an autographed helmet and footballs from the team. And as you can tell by the photos, the Raiders players were absolutely smitten with her.
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But one player went above and beyond for Ava. As the family was eating lunch in the team meal room, second-year offensive tackle Menelik Watson surprised Ava and her family by donating one of his game-day paychecks to them, which amounted to over $36,000.
"[The Raiders] went so far above and beyond. But there's one playerand I've never heard a player do this before, named Menelik Watson. He walks over to Ava's father the other day and hands him his game check for the week. And he said, 'Sir, I would like to make sure Ava has the greatest holiday. Here is my game check,'" Glazer recounts. "All the bad things that we hear players do and all the negative publicity they getthere is so much good that these guys actually do."
And maybe it was because of Ava and all the high-fives she gave the team, but the Raiders upset the Buffalo Bills 26-24 with their little fan cheering from the sideline.
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Glazer's Touchdown Dreams program matches chronically ill children with their favorite players and teams through his NFL connections.
To see more pics of adorable Ava and her week with the Raiders, check out the photo gallery on the Raiders' website.
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Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/608718/oakland-raiders-menelik-watson-donates-paycheck-to-4-year-old-girl-battling-heart-condition
