For Sam Houston High School football players, Tuesday was less about tackling and more about tackling the fundamentals.

Ten players read to pre-K through fifth-grade classes at Gillis Elementary School, initiating the Reading with a Bronco Football Player program. Sam Houston juniors Adam Viator, Seth Maggio, Josh Smith, Jeremy Meche, Nathan Eggleston, Peyton McLemore, Kendall Nugent, Garrett Powell and Jacob Cormier and senior Trent Johnston chose books that have positive moral lessons.

Books such as “Spoon Full of Courage” and “Rainbow Fish” deal with self-esteem, peer pressure and making right choices. Players split into groups to read to children in each class, with every grade getting four books read to them.

“I think it is important to go read to the elementary students to show them that reading can be a fun thing to do,” said Viator, who read “The Berenstain Bears and the Excuse Note.”

“I also think that younger students need to see that student-athletes are working hard in the classroom and on the football field,” he said.

Viator said the Moss Bluff community has given to his football team and that it was time to give back to them.

The idea to have the reading time came from the Booster Club in collaboration with the high school football team and coaches. Angie Bonvillain, a Booster Club member, said the decision was meant to be a positive example to the children.

“The whole big thing around this is, number one, the fact that the boys are giving back,” she said. “It’s kind of mentoring these kids, inviting them to come to the games and see positive role models.”

Cormier said the most important part of reading to younger students is setting a good example. For him, it is important for students to see people his age getting involved in school activities. Cormier, who read “A Teaspoon of Courage,” said he wants the students to find reading fun. He encourages younger students to read as well.

Players signed autographs and took pictures with the top accelerated readers in each class. Students were personally invited to the Sam Houston Purple and Gold Football game at the end of May.

Players will read to students at Moss Bluff Elementary and Holy Family next Tuesday.

“As an athlete, I have to be dedicated at practice, after practice and in the classroom,” Meche said. “The younger generation needs role models to show them that working hard, being disciplined and being a leader in the community pays off.”

Sam Houston High football players spend time reading to Gillis Elementary School students Tuesday morning as part of the “Reading with a Bronco Football Player” program. (Special to the American Press)