CLEVELAND — Smiles weren't hard to come by on Tuesday afternoon in the rooms of patients at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital as members of the Cleveland Browns surprised them with gifts to brighten their days.
Offensive linemen Joel Bitonio and Micheal Dunn and linebacker Jacob Phillips made their way to the Seidman Cancer Center, meeting with patients going through treatment. The experience was one that Bitonio said is something he always appreciates.
"It's always a good experience for us. It really doesn't take too much time to come down here to interact with the people and everybody seems to have such positive attitudes. It puts things in perspective a lot of the time," Bitonio said. "For us as players, I know there's a few of us here today, it's just a really good experience to get out and interact with some people in the community."
The other group, made up of guard Wyatt Teller, his wife Carly and kicker Cade York, made their way around rooms of young patients at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.
One of the first rooms Teller and York walked into was occupied by 17-year-old Vidal Brown—a passionate Browns fan who was wearing his Browns gear and had signs up on his walls.
Teller walked in first and Brown was overcome with excitement.
"I saw that block when [Nick] Chubb was running, it was clear man. Clear as day man," Brown exclaimed as Teller told him how nice it was to meet the young fan. "Oh man, it was so nice to meet you!"
Wearing masks to protect the children, York was a little harder to recognize, and Brown didn't realize right away that he had just met the Browns' rookie kicker who has become an overnight star in Cleveland. When he did realize, York had already left the room—so Brown got an escort down through the halls to re-meet York, properly.
"You're the franchise guy man!" Brown told York on their second encounter. "I'm so sorry I didn't realize it was you!"
That moment won't fade from Teller or York's memory anytime soon, but they had other touching moments during their visit as well.
A young boy later on the visit was overjoyed to open up his gift bag from the Browns, which included a Browns flag, a beanie, a blanket and other merchandise.
"This is so cool," the boy said. "I'm going to be a football player and I'm going to get a touchdown!"
For York, the day meant just as much to him as it may have for the children he met.
"It means a lot. Our time is limited in the NFL and just while I'm here I want to make sure I use the platform in the best ways possible and not only brighten their day but brighten my own day just getting to be around them and try to make their day a little bit better," York said. "It was priceless because to me I still feel like the same old guy that I've always been but to be able to go in there and make someone's day better, even just a little bit, means the world to me."
Camryn Justice is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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