Another weekend, another opportunity for Arizona Cardinals rookies to give back

Arizona Cardinals rookies spent another Saturday morning at the team’s facility in Tempe, volunteering their time to play flag football with another group the organization works with every year.

Last week it was girls high school flag football teams. This week, athletes from Special Olympics Arizona visited the Cardinals to play some ball and interact with the players. These are the kind of events where all of those involved get a lot out of the experience.

“I’m really thankful to be here in Arizona, so the least I can do is give back my free time to others in our community, and I’m really thankful to be here with my teammates,” Cardinals rookie Darius Robinson said. “I just see their smiles and their faces playing ball. We as football players, we can take it for granted how blessed we are to play a game, just to see how happy they are to do the same things we do. So just happy to see them smile.”

Robinson has been helping people since college. At Missouri while in college, Robinson started his own non-profit organization that handed out 100 bookbags for children at his church, and also raised money for families at Christmastime. He said he’s excited to continue doing community work with the Cardinals as well as on his own.

Robinson said his mother inspired him to do such work, telling him to appreciate what he is blessed with in life.

“Life is great for me, so the least I can do is give back my time and energy and pour it into other people,” Robinson said.

Ben Wrubel, Vice President of Programs for Special Olympics Arizona, said it means a lot for the athletes to get to spend time with the Cardinals.

“Our athletes are always told from the time they’re born that they can’t, they can’t, they can’t. And Special Olympics really tries to prove that they can. To get to hang out with the athletes, to do drills with the rookie class, to do drills with Marvin Harrison Jr., that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. And they’re soaking it all in and it means the world to them,” Wrubel said. “It just shows what sports can do, how sports can bring people together.”

There were an estimated 75 flag football players in attendance Saturday, plus coaches and caregivers.