Joining the New England Patriots Foundation at The Blackstone School in the South End of Boston on Tuesday, cornerback Marcus Jones was in his element.
The community event's objective was to get the students excited about building literacy skills with the Rhymes with Reason program, using popular music from artists like SZA and J. Cole to keep things engaging.
"I wish I had a program like this when I was in school," Jones admitted after the event. "It's great, because especially nowadays, people don't work out, drive in the car, or even walk around without listening to music. Being able to see this kids hear the music and break down the lyrics in an educational manner to understand what their favorite artists are talking about is awesome. I feel like it's the best thing for these kids and will help them out later in life."
Jones joined teammates Caleb Jones and Demontrey Jacobs, two Patriots cheerleaders, and the Pat Patriot mascot at the team's Adopt-A-School.
After analyzing lyrics from popular songs as a group, everyone branched off into teams to come up with their own musical verses using four specific vocabulary words.
"It was great to get back into the music space. I'm in football mode right now but just being able to be back in this space and hear the kids and what they're thinking about and how they put things together was great. The music world is where I love to stay at and being here was an awesome experience."
Here are other ways Patriots players gave back to the community on Tuesday:
Patriots join United Way to pack Thanksgiving meals to distribute locally
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, the Patriots Foundation partnered with United Way of Massachusetts Bay to kick off The Gratitude Project.
On Tuesday afternoon, Patriots players Brenden Schooler, Austin Hooper, Ben Brown, Layden Robinson, Miles Battle, Eric Johnson II traveled to the Boston Convention Center in Boston's Seaport neighborhood to pack nearly 10,000 bags of food and essentials to be distributed to sites in Attleboro, Dorchester, Taunton, Lowell, Lynn, Quincy, and Roxbury.
"Just being able to be shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of volunteers who took the time out of their busy days to do something selfless was pretty cool," said Hooper while volunteering.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Gratitude Project, more than 500 volunteers came together to get the job done.
"I think it's great, everyone just chipping in doing what they can to help," said Brown.
"It's pretty cool meeting a lot of local people here. I'm from Mississippi, so it's a little different, but everyone is very excited to be here."
Jacoby Brissett surprises students at Baker Elementary School in Brockton with new sneakers, hats
It was an exciting day for students at Baker Elementary School in Brockton on Tuesday, as a very special guest made a surprise visit.
Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett visited with the kids on his afternoon off, and he didn't come empty handed.
Partnering with the Lids Foundation and the Shoes That Fit charity, the Patriots captain handed out new sneakers and winter hats to all 755 students.
