In this letter to Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, an anonymous fan of the the Chiefs and Johnson express the positive role that Johnson has had on his young son and his love for the game of football.

Two years ago my son became interested in football. I use the term “interested” loosely because he was a 4 year old boy who could tell you the stats of the entire Kansas City Chiefs football team along with many other players on all the other NFL teams. At the age of 5 he sat through 5 hours of the football draft and every year since gets excited when that time of year comes around to find out who the Chiefs will pick. He is constantly explaining to me about the NFC and AFC and what a bootleg is or any other of the many football terms.

We live in New Jersey and have absolutely no connections to anyone or anything in or remotely around Kansas City, MO but my son decided that was his team and he has been the most loyal of all fans since the day he decided he loved football.

The only thing I did not like about his love for the game was the player he so admired. There are and have been in the past two years so many players on the Chiefs’ team that could be someone I would want my child to look up to, at least from a media perspective. However, my son’s love for the game and admiration for Larry Johnson was what has transformed him into an amazing 6 year old football player.

Months ago my husband purchased front row seats on the 5 yard line for the Kansas City/Chargers game on Oct. 25th, 2009. They made the trip out to KC for the first time and my son was nothing short of breath taken by the entire adventure.

I write this letter to you because 10 years ago I began teaching because I loved children and I wanted to make a difference. Now, as a mother of 3, I had tears in my eyes when my son called me from Arrowhead Stadium to tell me that Larry Johnson not only came over to his seat and signed his replica helmet but he also stood in front of him, took his gloves off and handed them to him.

Larry Johnson, from what I have seen of him in the media over the past 2 years, has shown no sign of any type of role model that a professional athlete should. However, this past Sunday, before his gay slander to the press and months after his suspension for the alleged domestic dispute with his girlfriend, he, in my eyes became a hero because he did for my son what no other person in the world could have done.

I write this letter to you so you can see that behind all of these things we read about we never hear about anything like this on the news and what this man has done for my son. I will forever be grateful for that simple act of Larry Johnson’s.

At night as we read football books and talk about Larry Johnson’s stats and how the Chiefs will prepare for next Sunday’s game I tell him that someday there will be a little boy getting tucked into bed reading a story book about him, [retracted]

If it is at all possible I would greatly appreciate this message getting passed on to Larry Johnson so he can know how deeply appreciative we are for what he did. He has made the difference in my son’s life and I thank him.