May 30, 2013
The Arizona Cardinals are on a break from organized team activities this
week, allowing players a chance to get out on the golf course or spend
some time with their families or, say, provide backup to a young
hospital patient singing karaoke.
Wait,
what?
On Wednesday, a group of the Cardinals rookies
made a planned visit to Phoenix Children's Hospital to spend time with
children in the oncology unit (which primarily deals with with cancerous
tumors). There were 25 rookies in all -- the team's nine draft picks as
well as 16 players in camp on rookie contracts after going
undrafted.
The players spent the day at the hospital,
doing everything from visiting patients' rooms to playing air hockey
and pool with the kids to signing autographs. But one particular meeting
took an unusual twist.
A young patient named
Bethany -- in for a temporary stay after having her appendix removed --
decided she wanted to put on a karaoke performance. She nails Taylor
Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble," and the players get in on the act,
providing both some backup instrumentals and a very visible group of
backup dancers who clearly should keep their football-related day
jobs.
Watch and enjoy (the Cardinals' official
website also has an
extensive photo gallery of the
visit):
The rookies in the
newly assembled music group (from left): Jamaal Johnson-Webb, a totally
engaged Padric Scott, Earl Watford (with stuffed dog), Dan Giordano and
first-round pick Jonathan Cooper on lead
guitar.
Regardless of how many of those players
ending up making the team, all of them will have at least one fan for
life.
