This NFL player dressed up as Pikachu to visit kids at a children’s hospital
It takes a lot to be a professional athlete. You have to train like crazy. You have to push yourself. You have to make the big plays on game day. But there’s also a huge reward for being an athlete at that level, like a huge payday and some serious fame. So it’s nice to see professionals giving back to their communities, and this week, the New England Patriots took a trip to the Boston Children’s Hospital. The team brought a special surprise for the kids in the form of a cute, yellow Pokémon.
Martellus Bennett, a new tight end on the Patriots, dressed up as Pikachu to surprise the kids, because he’s adorable.
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Martellus is known for his boisterous personality and his playful demeanor. We love that he is willing to look silly to make a bunch of kids happy, and what a great choice of costume. With the popularity of Pokémon Go these days, everyone has been searching for Pikachu. Although, at 6’6″ and 275 pounds, Martellus is probably the biggest Pikachu ever spotted, and he would probably never fit into a Poké Ball.
Though Martellus is a fantastic player, imagination is his passion, so it’s not surprising that he felt right at home hanging out with kids at the Children’s Hospital.
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In fact, Martellus was reading from an interactive children’s book that he wrote, Hey AJ It’s Saturday.
Martellus founded the company that created the book, the Imagination Agency, and he explains a little about himself on the project’s website.
"Marty received his PhD in awesomeness from the highly prestigious Orange Dinosaur University where his focus was coloring outside of the lines and making stuff with his creative and funny bones. The A.J series is inspired by his daughter Austyn Jett (A.J.) and their adventures together."
This is a delightful level of whimsy that we don’t normally see in athletes, and we find it very charming. Plus, we like that Martellus is using his position as a famous athlete to promote imagination and inspire kids.
Martellus’ goofy sense of fun is clearly contagious, because he had his teammates getting in on the action. His fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski couldn’t resist posting this pic of Martellus.
Hey @MartysaurusRex I found Pikachu 😅😅 pic.twitter.com/M1JzHip7yO
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) September 13, 2016
