We Should Remember That Footballers Can Be Nice

Good guy, that Seth Stammler.

We often highlight the times when football players do things that are less than nice (I’m looking at you, John Terry). So, every once in a while it’s nice to identify when one of them does something positive. RBNY recently announced their team awards, and midfielder Seth Stammler received the Red Bulls’ USSF Humanitarian of the Year award for the 3rd year in a row. Through his Sporting Chance Foundation (SCF), Seth helps the people of Haiti by providing both educational resources and drinking water, both of which are desperately needed in what is one of the poorest countries in the world. This past year alone, Stammler and SCF helped build a well that provides potable water for almost 10,000 Haitians and granted 60 scholarships to Haitian students. His outreach efforts came about after a 6-day trip to Haiti in November 2006 with Jozy Altidore (who was with RBNY at the time), Jerrod Laventure (who was with RBNY on a developmental contract), and Wyclef Jean for the latter’s Yele Haiti.

Seth was one of the RBNY players who attended our screening of The Damned United, but unfortunately I wasn’t aware of his charitable efforts at the time. As someone of Haitian descent (although I wasn’t born there, and I haven’t been there in over 20 years), it is always gratifying to see someone with no connection to the country work so hard to make the lives of the Haitian people a little bit better. Congratulations, Seth, on being one of the good guys.