Nick Chubb spent his Sunday running through the Baltimore Ravens' defense to the tune of 165 yards and three touchdowns.
He streaked across the television screens of hundreds of thousands watching back in Northeast Ohio. And on Wednesday, he scored his own extra points, too, when he went from the television screen to the bedside of dozens of patients at University Hospitals' Seidman Cancer Center.
The star running back visited the hospital along with teammates Joe Schobert and Damion Ratley, and team mascot Chomps as part of the Browns' First and ten Tuesday community engagement. The players and mascot interacted with the patients and presented them gifts to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
No one received a greater response than Chubb, the brown and orange hero of the week who got a bit of his own inspiration from patients fighting their battles against cancer.
"They're champs, man, so strong," Chubb said. "They're fighting against cancer, so it's just great to see all of them.
"It's great to be here, lift their spirits and give them any kind of excitement that they need. I saw a lot of people happy to see us and that made me feel happy inside."
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
The Browns visited University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center patients during its weekly First and Ten Tuesday community engagement. Browns players interacted with and presented gifts to the patients to show support and brighten spirits, as well as express appreciation for UH's medical staff for their daily contributions.
It wasn't Schobert's first trip to University Hospitals, where he typically makes a visit around Halloween each year since his arrival in 2016, dressing in costume to surprise the children who are there as patients. This time, he covered multiple parts of the hospital, visiting with juvenile patients first before heading over to an outpatient infusion section of the hospital that includes plenty of windows and natural light to make patients as comfortable as possible.
While they received their treatments, Schobert, Chubb and Ratley popped in to say hello, take photos and sign pennants given to each patient. One patient, Mary Lauderdale, came around the corner in a wheelchair and was overjoyed when she saw the group of Browns, with whom she took a photo and told them "I'll love you forever!"
"Just to be able to come and visit patients, see the smiles that you can put on faces who are going through very difficult times, much more difficult than anything we've experienced on the football field definitely, is uplifting and just something that you always want to be a part of," Schobert said.
The trio moved up through the hospital, visiting different floors of in-patient care and even participating in the "ringing-out" of a patient who had just completed her final round of chemotherapy treatment. As she rang the celebratory bell, the Browns clapped and cheered for her before taking a photo and giving her her own bag of gifts.
"They're going through times that are much harder than anything we've been through," Schobert said. "They're life-threatening situations that they come in every day, they have the courage to put smiles on and take the day head-on. It inspires us because we're going and playing football and it's something that we love to do obviously, and it can be tough, but it's nothing like what these people are going through. To see them take it with such emotion and just have a smile on their face after all they've gone through is uplifting."
Continuing in 2019, the NFL, Browns and American Cancer Society have broadened the scope of their efforts to 'tackle' and raise awareness for multiple types of cancer, in addition to breast cancer. The Browns will display their full support of the "Crucial Catch: Intercept Cancer" campaign during the team's home game against the Seahawks on Oct. 13, presented by University Hospitals.
