It was a simple gesture. It also altered his future. An uncle bought Redskins defensive tackle Lorenzo Alexander, a young teenager with no father in his life, a pair of cleats. His first.
Flash ahead about 15 years. Alexander is hosting a free football clinic at Centreville High School and received, courtesy of the NFL, approximately $5,000. When discussing where the money would go, Alexander stressed that some of the money would go toward buying cleats for those who could not afford them. And he told others involved why that meant so much to him.
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“He wanted to give someone else that same experience,” said Kore Bendix, the youth pastor at Grace Covenant Church in Chantilly, where Alexander attends. “That has always stuck in the back of my mind. He’s such an amazing man.”
And it’s a big reason why Alexander is as involved as any Redskin when it comes to community work. He’s a staple at the Tuesday charity events, missing only the occasional one. He has a youth foundation (lorenzoalexander.org); routinely visits Children’s Hospital or Walter Reed or speaks with youth football teams after games. In the past two seasons, he participated in 19 events combined for the Redskins Charitable Foundation. That does not include his offseason work in his native Oakland or the hospital visits on his own.
He, along with Redskins receiver Antwaan Randle El and former Redskin James Thrash, will hold a youth retreat sometime this spring or summer. Alexander focuses on at-risk minorities; but his programs serve many.
In the back of his mind, he remembers the cleats from his uncle, Stephen Moore.
“It was a really profound [moment] in my life to make me say, ‘I want to give back,'” Alexander said. “Being blessed with this platform, it’s only right that I use it to give back so they can have the same opportunity, or be inspired by what I’m doing. When they grow up, they can give back. It creates a good cycle.”
