Packers RB Aaron Jones surprised to learn his airport good deed went viral
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Jones said he was doing what anybody else would do and had no idea his random act of kindness had been caught on camera.
So the Green Bay Packers running back was surprised when he arrived home and opened Twitter only to see a picture of him pushing a woman in a wheelchair through the airport.
A passerby posted the photo:
The woman was seated across the aisle from Jones on a flight from Chicago to Appleton, Wisconsin. Jones was on his way back from his Memorial Day weekend holiday in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. He fell asleep with his headphones on during the short flight but when the plane landed, he awoke to see the woman struggling with her cane and bags.
"I was like, 'Do you need help?'" Jones said. "And she said yes, so I started carrying her bags and when we were walking off the plane, the flight attendant told her that there would be somebody there to push her with a wheelchair."
There were wheelchairs there, but no one to push them, Jones said.
"So I asked if she wanted me to push her and she said yes," Jones said. "I pushed her down to where her daughter was. As we got halfway down there, I had a bag tag on and she asked 'Are you a Packers player?' I said 'Yes, ma'am I am.' And she was like, 'My husband would've loved this.' You could tell she got excited, and it made me happy. But I didn't know anybody had taken a picture until I got home and got on Twitter."
By the time the Packers hit the field for Thursday's OTA practice, the story had gone viral. The original tweet had been liked more than 18,000 times and retweeted more than 3,400 times.
"Well, I'll tell you, it brings a big smile to my face when it comes across my phone," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "I'll just say about Aaron Jones and our players: I look at that as I'm thankful that everybody else is getting to see what I get to see pretty much every day. I mean, this is a tremendous locker room. We've been very fortunate and blessed with the caliber of character that we have in our locker room. So when things like that are expressed, especially on social media, it brings a smile to my face. But that's what I get to experience with these guys every day. Their heart is in the right place, and I'm sure obviously he probably didn't even know someone took that picture. That's just the type of guy he is."
Jones, a fifth-round draft pick last year from UTEP, tied for the Packers' lead in rushing touchdowns last season (four) and is in a competition with Ty Montgomery and Jamaal Williams to be the No. 1 running back this season. His rookie season could have been even more successful if not for a pair of knee injuries and a marijuana charge (in which he pleaded no contest).
It wasn't the only Good Samaritan act by a Packers' player this week. Linebacker Blake Martinez found a stray dog, posted a picture on Twitter and then later reported that the dog had been returned to its owner.
"We're trying to set a good example out there," Martinez said.
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