Growing up watching football, Christian Gonzalez always thought it was cool to see his last name on the jersey of a Hall of Fame tight end.
Those instances were few and far between, though.
"I liked to see my last name (on a jersey) when Tony Gonzalez was playing -- that was pretty cool," Gonzalez said at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday evening, hosting a Hispanic Heritage Month football clinic with the Patriots Foundation and a handful of his teammates.
"Other than that there wasn't a ton of us."
Now that he's all grown up, playing cornerback for the New England Patriots, he's happy to represent his culture on the NFL's stage. Just like when he showed off the Colombian flag sewn into the lining of his custom suit after the team selected him 17th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
That pride comes with the desire to represent the hopes and dreams of other kids with similar backgrounds at community events like Tuesday's.
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Gonzalez and the Patriots hosted about 50 children from organizations like Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA Boston) and the Rafael Hernández Dual Language School.
Joining Gonzalez and the Pat Patriot mascot were players Layden Robinson, Caedan Wallace, Dell Pettus, Liam Fornadel, Terrell Jennings, and Jotham Russell.
The Patriots set up drills to put the kids through a football clinic on the field at Gillette Stadium, and when they were done, everyone enjoyed dinner and ice cream sundaes at the Celebration Beer Hall.
"It would have been really cool to be able to come out here with other kids and meet professional athletes like this," Gonzalez said.
"It's awesome being able to come out here and do this for these kids."
