This is one of the coolest stories I have read in some time:

Curry wound up at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday. In a prearranged meeting set up by his agent and hospital officials, Curry told wide-eyed, 12-year-old Bryson Merriweather that he wanted a tour of the place. The boy had spent the better part of two years there undergoing five rounds of chemotherapy for leukemia, which is now in remission.

“We were acting like he was just taking me on a regular tour around the hospital,” Curry said. “Toward the end, we ended up outside tossing each other a football, and I just started talking about the draft.

“He said he had seen it, and I was telling him that I had been invited and if he would join me in this experience. So I said, ‘So come to New York with me and get drafted into the NFL.’”
So joining Curry’s mother, fiancee and siblings at his draft table on April 25 will be Bryson, the Madison, Ala., boy who is determined to play football again — and get more people to be bone marrow donors.

“I was showing him around and then he asked me,” Bryson said of Curry’s surprise offer. “And I’ve never been to New York before.”

While Curry has been fortunate not to have a friend or family member affected by cancer, he was drawn to Bryson’s story when he was directed to the St. Jude hospital through his agent, Andy Ross.

The article goes on to talk about young Bryson’s battle with cancer, so do yourself a favor and check it out.

There are plenty of athletes who do good things for their community and it gets overlooked. I think what Aaron Curry is doing for this young man is special and I’ll be rooting for him on Sundays, no matter what team drafts him.

Aaron Curry, a 6-2, 250-lb linebacker out of Wake Forest University, has parlayed his physical tools, a great senior season and an eye-opening combine workout to make himself the can’t-miss pick in April’s upcoming NFL draft.

What a difference two years makes.

Back in 2007, Curry returned to Fayetteville, N.C. after a season that saw him finish second in team tackles with 83, only to find out that his mom, Chris, had been evicted from their family home.

After telling his family story during last week’s scouting combine, NFL teams know now that in addition to all of his football skills, Curry is a resilient and family-oriented young man. He says that his no. 1 priority after signing his pro contract is to buy a house for his mom.

Curry’s physical tools are astounding. He’s bulked up to a formidable 250 pounds after weighing under 200 coming out of high school (a big reason why he only received scholarship offers from Wake Forest and East Carolina University – he picked Wake for its academics). He’s a playmaker as much as he is a consistent run-stopping force. During his junior year, he returned three interceptions for touchdowns, bringing back the picks for a school-record of 226 total yards.

In a “three questions� interview with ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert, Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz (the man helping to decide who the Lions will pick with the draft’s no. 1 overall pick) described Curry’s unique skill set.