The past several days have been a whirlwind for former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack. Traded by the Oakland Raiders to the Chicago Bears last week, Mack signed a record six-year, $141 million extension with his new team this past weekend.
Having excelled below market value over the course of his still-young career, most figured Mack’s first goal would be to buy himself something fancy. Maybe a new car or a home.
Instead, Mack is setting his sights on bigger things. According to his father, Sandy, the pass rusher is putting his money where his mouth is. It includes helping finance a program that brings mega yachts to Mack’s hometown of Fort Pierce in Florida. The project will bring upwards of 1,000 new jobs to the area should it be approved by local politicians.
“Khalil putting a sizable chunk of money toward the project is definitely going to happen. We talked yesterday (Tuesday) about it,” the older Mack said, via TC Palm. “He hasn’t decided yet how much he’ll put in, but I think it will help support the city. We’re both really excited about it.”
This is one way for Mack to give back to a hometown that helped make him. It’s stories like these that don’t get a ton of headlines in today’s politically-charged sports atmosphere. But they do a lot for local communities and impact the lives of real people.
Mack will soon be the latest example of an athlete that has not forgotten about his community after cashing in playing a game. Good on him.