New Orleans Saint Scott Fujita Lives Up To The Team's Name

The New Orleans linebacker signs with the Cleveland Browns, but leaves a lasting legacy in NOLA.

Just about every player on an NFL roster should take a page out of Scott Fujita's playbook. He was named the New Orleans Saints' Man of the Year for his charitable works, and helped bring a Super Bowl title to a city still on the mend. His activism off the field and his leadership and blue-collar approach to the game of football made him an easy fan favorite. And though the Saints declined to offer him a new contract at the end of the season,  Fujita ultimately signed with the Cleveland Browns as a free agent. However, the 30-year-old ensured his legacy on Bourbon Street and beyond by adding to his list of good deeds, and donating half of his playoff bonus ($82,000) to charity.

It is an act of altruism unheard of in the system of free agency that has players chasing bigger paydays from city to city. At it's best, a player is likely to thank a city for it's support, and move on with a modicum of class. At it's worst, it's a bitter, ugly divorce of egos that is played out in the public forum. But the affable and earnest Fujita has proven time and again that he doesn't burn bridges, rather he builds them, and then gilds them. "The people of this city and region have been so good to me and my family, the big-hearted linebacker told NOLA.com, "that we just felt strongly about doing something to protect the city we have come to love so much."

Half of the money has been earmarked by Fujita for coastal restoration in Louisiana, and the other half for the continued relief efforts in Haiti, in what is an apparent nod to now-former teammate Jonathan Vilma.

Despite the NFL's best efforts to sway public opinion, and prove otherwise, it would be naive for anyone to view the League as anything but big business. Which makes it all the more refreshing to see someone conduct their business with class, selflessness, and and an understanding that there is not only a world, but a universe that exists outside of their own egos (We're looking at you T.O.). You can be sure that whenever he returns to New Orleans, Fujita will never have to pay for a meal, though judging by all reports, he'll not only pay for his, but for everyone else's as well.

Photo by Shawn D. Graham via Wikimedia Commons.