A promising NFL hopeful last month was caught on camera donating some of his new Nike gear to a homeless woman on a street corner, garnering him favorable attention from sports fans and Twitter users on social media.
In the footage, quarterback Malik Willis, 22, of Lynchburg, Virginia’s Liberty Flames college football club, demonstrated that a spirit of sportsmanship is something you carry everywhere, on and off the field.
The moment was captured while Willis was at the 2022 NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, where he received perks at the event, including a suitcase full of Nike gear. When he noticed the woman on the roadside, he decided to pay forward some of his good fortune.
“I walked past her on the way to the Nike suite and I chopped it up with them and I walked out with a suitcase and whatnot,” he told CBS.
“I felt bad,” he added. “And I was just like, ‘Shoot, I don’t have no money, but I can give you a couple of shirts.’”
University of Oregon alum Ryan Lacey, 23, currently working as a sports marketer and athlete brand builder, witnessed and managed to capture the scene on camera from a restaurant across the street.
Willis was unaware anyone was recording the act, he said.
“I just felt like I had to do that,” Willis said. “I mean, I’m at a position right now where I’m not worried about much of anything except getting better. So, if I can help her out any way, I felt like I had to.”
Lacey posted the video on Twitter where it went viral, and several Twitter users chimed in and hailed the good deed.
“Someone raised this young man the right way,” commented Rex Chapman.
“Damn man this video bout to make me cry,” another fan wrote. “I love this especially he didn’t put it on his social media to get likes or views. I’m not that mad at ppl who do it but I shouldn’t have to question if you doing it not for attention.”
It’s timely for Willis to catch some spotlight in a feel-good viral moment, on or off the field, as the promising young player with top prospects is set to show up for the NFL Draft of 2022 scheduled for the end of April.
