Tim Tebow may soon have competition for the unofficial “NFL’s Biggest Gentleman” award.
Trent Richardson, the University of Alabama running back who scored the game-icing touchdown in this year’s BCS National Championship game, spent this past Saturday night at a high school prom with 17-year-old Courtney Alvis, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010.
Alvis’ treatments prevented her from going to the junior prom unless she wore a mask and rubber gloves, “and that wasn’t for me,” she told WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Ala.
A year later, she was being accompanied to prom by a Heisman Trophy finalist, thanks to her uncle, who used an Alabama connection to get in touch with some of Richardson’s contacts.
“I did it out of my heart,” Richardson said on Saturday. “I’m lucky to be here with Courtney.”
ESPN ran a four-minute segment yesterday on how the big day went for Richardson and Alvis. Check it out here.
SPOILER ALERT: Alvis was named the prom queen.
How best to sum up this story? As Marc Sessler of NFL.com wrote, “NFL teams invest countless hours examining the character of the men they plan to draft. In the case of Richardson, it appears we have our answer.”
Richardson, a junior, declared for the NFL draft back in January, three days after winning the national championship. He’s projected as a likely Top 10 pick.
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