NFL player Mekhi Blackmon of the Colts and brothers Rejzohn and Nahshon Wright of the Saints and Bears, all played on the field as kids and were at the celebration. "This is where I learned to be a teammate," Bears CB and East Palo Alto native Nahshon Wright said. "This is how I learned to be selfless."
Elected officials, professional athletes and students gathered Wednesday to celebrate the refurbished Los Robles-Ronald McNair sports field near the Boys and Girls Club in East Palo Alto. It was refurbished just in time for the South Bay to host the Super Bowl and World Cup.
"It's outstanding, it's so cool," said 11-year-old Kulia Lutui, a student at Costano School of the Arts. "Looking at it, it gives me an idea of what the experience at a real NFL field looks like."
"It felt like I was playing like one of the football players," said 10-year-old Jairo Juarez, a student at Costano School of the Arts.
The field is regulation size for football but can be used for soccer as well.
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NFL player Mekhi Blackmon of the Colts and brothers Rejzohn and Nahshon Wright of the Saints and Bears, all played on the field as kids and were at the celebration.
"This is a field that I went to school at," Blackmon said. "Everything I've done basically was at this field."
"To see what it looks like now to what it looked like when I played here is a surreal moment for me and my family and everybody included," Rejzohn Wright said.
"This is where I learned to be a teammate," Nahshon Wright said. "This is how I learned to be selfless. I mean, this is the same exact field that has gotten me to where I'm at today. I learned the fundamentals of football right here."
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The field cost $5.5 million and was made possible by donations.
"A lot of times you don't get to see people invest in communities like ours," said Jenny Bloom, Ravenswood City School District School Board member. "And so when I think about our community- we are under-resourced but one of the things that our community really has is grit and we see that through the football players that have come out of here."
Now others can follow in their footsteps, thanks to the new field.
It is open to public reservations and after-hours community use.
Category: General Sports
