More professional athletes should take the time to use their Twitter accounts the way that Jeremy Guthrie used his on Tuesday. With all the nonsense we see on Twitter and other forms of social media — much of which is posted by professional athletes — we tend to forget that these mediums can be used to do good things. When Guthrie tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he was looking for someone to play catch with him at Coors Field, he ended up connecting with a follower named Woody Roseland. As promised, the two spent some time playing catch together.
As Jimmy Traina pointed out in Wednesday morning’s SI Hot Clicks, Roseland’s website describes him as a “highly motivated individual who passionately pursues a variety of ventures. He is a speaker, five-time cancer survivor, standup comedian, podcaster, student and Denver’s best looking amputee.” The 21-year-old Roseland had his left leg amputated in high school after nagging pain followed by some tests revealed a rare form of bone cancer.
As his website explains, Woody now spends his time speaking at various charity events and raising money for cancer research. After he played catch with Guthrie, the Rockies pitcher tweeted the following: “I was trying to find a catch partner (thanks for bailing Chatwood) & found a FRIEND & example of courage.@WoodyRoseland You are inspiring!”
Guthrie was just looking to connect with his fans and make someone’s day by playing catch at Coors Field with them, and now thousands more people will know Woody’s story and be able to help him raise money because of it. If someone like, say, Floyd Mayweather Jr. spent more time making gestures like this and less time tweeting pictures of the bets he wins, more stories like Roseland’s could be heard.
