This NFL Player’s Random Act of Kindness Helped a Woman Make Her Flight

"My heart is so happy. There are good people in this world."

Delilah Cassidy was traveling from London to Arizona when she found herself in a pickle at the airport.

While trying to board a connecting flight in Los Angeles, she was told she needed to pay $50 to carry on her bag. After traveling internationally, Cassidy’s credit cards were not working in the United States. In order to pay by cash, however, she’d have to go back to the ticket counter, which would cause her to miss her flight.

airport ticket counter photo — Getty Images | Joshua Lott

Cassidy was frustrated and started tearing up. That’s when a kind stranger stepped in to save the day and offered to pay the fee for her.

Cassidy tweeted about the incident, noting she was “astonished” by this random act of kindness:

https://twitter.com/Delilah_Cassidy/status/1001911423599980544

It turns out that the Good Samaritan was Arizona Cardinals tight end, Jermaine Gresham. Although Cassidy tried to decline his offer, the NFL player insisted. Cassidy was able to board the flight, and when she passed Gresham in first class, she gave him a hug to thank him again for his good deed.

She tried to offer him cash, but Gresham refused it and simply told her to pay it forward instead. What a class act!

A flight attendant informed Cassidy, who is studying to be a sports lawyer at Arizona State University, that the man who had helped her was an NFL player. After a quick online search, Cassidy learned his identity.

“I was shocked!” Cassidy told People. “He was so human. He was just so personable. I didn’t see him as, ‘This is Jermaine Gresham,’ I saw him as a stranger who helped me. I was excited to know it was him, but if it was a random stranger and I never knew their name it would still mean just as much.”

When their flight landed, she once again thanked Gresham, who gladly agreed to take a selfie with her:

https://twitter.com/Delilah_Cassidy/status/1001939474702626816

What an uplifting story!

Other Sports Stars Spread Kindness

Gresham isn’t the only professional athlete spreading kindness. In 2017, Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley warmed hearts when he shared a photo of his new rescue dog, Winter, who had endured many trying circumstances, including overbreeding.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ7APoKnRg5/?utm_source=ig_embed

While many people prefer to adopt younger dogs, Stanley specifically asked Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) for a dog that was “not so adoptable.”

“To be able to help a dog in need, I always had planned on doing,” Stanley said on Animal Planet’s “Stars to the Rescue.” “Some of my teammates, I told them I was looking to adopt a dog and BARCS was the place they suggested.”

Also in 2017, Philadelphia Eagles champion Chris Long donated a year’s worth of his salary to education:

This past April, San Francisco 49ers’ Don Jones took a fan with Down Syndrome to her prom.

“Anything I can do to make some kids smile, I would be more than willing to do,” Jones told WBRC. “I think the most fun was all of the guys, I showed the guys about five or six new dance moves.”