Raiders offensive lineman donates game check to 4-year-old with rare heart condition

I can’t quite say I’ve ever heard anything like the story of the Oakland Raiders and 4-year-old Ava Urrera of Las Vegas, which Jay Glazer just told on Fox’s NFL Sunday pregame show.

Urrera has a heart condition Glazer described as equivalent to having “half a heart,” and this post indicates doctors aren’t too hopeful. Glazer had told the Raiders about her story, and they put together an amazing experience for her and her family: they made her captain for a day, showed her and her family everything around their facilities, tickets to the game, the whole shebang.

But second-year offensive lineman Menelik Watson went above and beyond: without being prompted, he gave the Urreras his check for the week, worth $18,000, telling them to have a happy holiday. An entire week’s game check isn’t chicken scratch for an NFL player, and it wasn’t a huge photo op or anything -- just out of the goodness of Watson’s heart when not that many people were watching. Amazing move by the second-year player out of Florida State University.

Kudos to Watson, and best wishes and happy holidays to the Urreras.

Update: Ava was with the Raiders today, and the team dedicated the win to her.