Being a professional athlete is about more thanperformance on the field. Giving one’s time and being of service to those who genuinely need an uplifting trumps all. Cleveland Browns’ Cam Erving proved that a couple weeks ago.
Erving was moved by the story of Elna Wright, a 17-year old senior at Elyria high school diagnosed with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a rare progressive disorder that prevents her from speaking or walking.
The former Homecoming Queen lost her boyfriend last fall, and was without a date to this year’s prom.
Being a passionate Cleveland sports fan, Browns in particular, Ingrid and Ebony Wright took to Facebook in attempts to corral a Cleveland Browns player to take her.
“ I heard the story of how her boyfriend passed away and how she didn’t have a date at the time. I jumped at the opportunity because I felt like, in my heart, it was the right thing to do.” said Erving.
Wright and Erving enjoyed the night in style. The two shared a limousine ride to prom, stopped by Elyria’s Ely Square for photos and created a reel of lifelong memories.
“Just being able to make her smile, that’s the biggest thing. Everybody deserves happiness, so anything I can do to make this night as special as possible.” Erving said
The Cleveland Browns twitter posted pictures of the two on Prom night. The surrounding community let it be known how beautiful she looked by the various amount of tweets that poured in amid the photographs being posted.
The former Seminole admitted his rookie season was disappointing, and that he lost himself a bit and didn’t commit to giving back as he always did growing up.
When speaking about the image of a professional athlete, Erving made it clear it’s the way you conduct yourself off-the-field that truly defines you.
“They may remember what happens on the field, but people are always going to remember what you do off the field. And I want to be remembered as someone who cares about people genuinely. And that’s all that matters to me.”
