The United States of America was brought to a state of mourning after multiple tragic deaths and shootings over the course of the last week. While these horrific events are certainly depressing and debilitating, it is during these times of struggle that the innate goodness of some people usually shines through.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and tight end Jason Witten are auctioning off a night on the town with them as well as autographed memorabilia to help raise money in support of the families of the five slain Dallas police officers. Cowboys offensive linemen Travis Frederick and Zack Martin also helped with the fundraising, offering a chance to attend a Texas Rangers game in an exclusive suite with the duo to the highest bidder.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports recently reported that this charity sports auction has already raised $280,000 so far. The end goal of the auction was to reach over $300,000, so they seem to be well on their way to completing that goal.
The charity sports auction (Romo, Witten, etc) to benefit families of the fallen officers in Dallas has raised $280K thus far. Nice work!
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) July 15, 2016
Tony Romo had a special connection with one of the five fallen officers. Patrick Zamarripa, a veteran and respected police officer in the Dallas-FT. Worth area, served three tours in Iraq and spent eight years of active duty as apart of the Navy. He was just 32 years old and was the father of two young children. Based off of his Twitter page and recent discussions, Zamarripa was clearly a super fan of all sports, but especially of his Dallas Cowboys.
Zamarripa is pictured below with Romo, Jason Witten, Michael Irvin, and his partner. According to Ben Rogers of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Witten hooked Zamarripa and his partner up with tickets to a home game in 2015 after being touched by stories of his bravery and courage.
https://twitter.com/GerardoRAbrego/status/751466602797817857/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It is always great to see communities come together in response to tragic events such as this. So while there has been a ton of heartbreak in the news of the real world these past couple weeks, guys like Tony Romo and Jason Witten make us proud to be Cowboys fans.
