Rodgers helps young girl spread word about G9 childhood cancer initiative
Aaron Rodgers went viral this past week, and not for his play on the football field.
Rodgers' latest video in his #itsAaron series hit the web Saturday and quickly made the rounds. This is the third year Rodgers has done videos for itsaaron.com, where he highlights the organizations and people who run local charities. His latest, though, struck a chord.
On his radio show Tuesday, Rodgers gave some backstory to the video of him surprising a girl, Annie, whose twin brother Jack had cancer, fought it off, had a reoccurrence and eventually succumbed to it.
"Jack . . . was a big part of me really falling in love with the MACC fund," said Rodgers, referring to the charity Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer.
Part of the hook of the web series is Rodgers surprising people who have no idea they are going to meet the Packers quarterback. In this episode, Annie is astonished and the shared experience between the two is quite evident.
Rodgers then went with Annie around the neighborhood -- on a Sunday no less, as the video was filmed days after Green Bay's season-opening loss on a Thursday -- to spread word of her G9 initiative to have gold be the color of September for childhood cancer (much like pink is for breast cancer awareness month in October).
"Everything that happened that day was purely reactionary. There was nothing set up. . . . I think (it) really captured a lot of the emotion of the day," Rodgers said. "How special it was to me to spend time with Annie. I've gotten to know her over the years, with her brother and being a big part of the MACC fund. There's such a big web that stretches out when you touch one person, there's so many other people affected. Hopefully it inspires people to get involved.
"It's stuff like this that gives you perspective."
If you haven't seen the video -- or want to watch it one more time -- here it is. Just make sure to have that box of tissues handy nearby.
