USC players and coaches visit the Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Thursday
By Ben Malcolmson
USCRipsIt
PeteCarroll.com
The Trojans bring the pain on Saturdays, but they brought joy to ill children on Thursday.
A dozen Trojan players and coaches visited the USC Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Thursday morning, spending an hour with ailing children and bringing hope to a downcast situation.
Coach Carroll, secondary coach Rocky Seto and linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. joined three team captains and six other players for the team's annual visit to the hospital on USC’s Health Science Campus. The nine players included quarterback Mark Sanchez, wideouts Patrick Turner and Drew Ness, offensive linemen Jeff Byers and Matt Meyer, kicker David Buehler, linebacker Rey Maualuga and defensive backs Cary Harris and Kevin Ellison.
The USC contingent visited dozens of patients, going room to room, signing autographs and posing for pictures. The players also gave out stuffed animals and toys, and Maualuga, a smile-producing machine, walked around with an Elmo puppet stuffed into the chest of his jersey.
“We walk in with our jerseys on and then you see the kids smile — it means a lot to me,” said Ellison, one of three team captains to go on the visit. “I can’t imagine being in the hospital like this as a kid, so it feels good to come here and give back.”
Check out some pictures from the visit:
Mark Sanchez and Patrick Turner pose for a picture with a teenage boy at the USC Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Kicker David Buehler and offensive lineman Matt Meyer spend time with a boy at the hospital.
Mark Sanchez looks through the bars of a hospital crib at a prematurely born baby.
Linebacker Rey Maualuga reaches out to a sick boy in the hospital.
The Trojans spend time with a child as (left to right) Mark Sanchez, Jeff Byers, Kevin Ellison, Patrick Turner, Cary Harris and Drew Ness pose for a picture.
David Buehler and Rey Maualuga squat down to talk to a toddler.
(Left to right) Song Girls, Rey Maualuga, David Buehler, members of the Trojan Marching Band and Matt Meyer pose for a picture with a boy in the hospital.
Mark Sanchez and Coach Carroll spend time with a sick boy at the hospital.
• Ben Malcolmson is the Director of Online Media for USCRipsIt/PeteCarroll.com. You can contact him at Ben@PeteCarroll.com.
