'Cats enjoy giving back to community

Chris Morant was in it for the money. He kept helping his elderly neighbor across the street, knowing she struggled to go grocery shopping by herself — and that she’d pay for the assistance.

Day after day he provided a hand, accepting 25 cents each time. He saved up until he got to 40 bucks, then sat down to ponder his next move. Morant’s eyes were big, two decades later, as he recounted the events to a group of 52 youngsters. The Florida Firecats star was a guest Wednesday at the Grace Church summer camp in Cape Coral, there to tell stories, teach lessons and play games.

This was a lesson.

“You know what I bought?” he asked the kids, who, seated on the floor in front of him, responded with a blitz of guesses.

He let the moment sit.

“Nothing,” he finally told them. “I gave the money back.”

His audience was surprised by the punch line, but his answer should have been predictable. Especially to the campers — or anyone else in the room, for that matter — given the selfless manner in which Morant was volunteering his time to the community.

Again.

There are two sides of Florida’s burly fullback/linebacker, to say nothing of the two roles he plays on Saturday nights in Germain Arena.The first is the intimidator. The 6-foot-1, 260-pound monster in the middle of the Florida defense, the quarterback-rushing terror who dishes out equal punishment as a ball carrier.

The second is the friendly neighbor. The 28-year-old kid with an easy smile, always around to offer wisdom when the youngsters huddle around.It was the latter figure who sat next to Justin Midgett, Florida’s backup quarterback, as the two brought sunshine to Grace Church, ending the two-hour lovefest with an autograph session.

Morant, clearly, was having a ball. He might as well have been wearing one of those neon T-shirts, just like the other 52 children in the room.“I just revert back to when I was a kid,” Morant said. “They can see I was a kid, too, and they want to listen. You can be a big friend for them.”

The strategy must work.

Morant’s first season with the Kansas City Brigade wasn’t a smash success — he spent the entire year on the team’s inactive roster — but the Virginia native was named the AFL franchise’s Community Service Player of the Year, an award that explains itself.

A return to Southwest Florida hasn’t changed anything. Morant, who rejoined the Firecats four weeks ago, continues to make an impact wherever he goes.

There he was Wednesday, being a kid again. Morant proudly displayed his ArenaCup ring for the campers and told them stories of his childhood. Most memorable, though, was a game of musical chairs, with Morant providing a beat for the children to clap their hands.

Midgett, too, reached out. He talked to the youngsters about his whirlwind trip to af2 — which began, just three years ago, with a University of Florida signing — and credited God for putting him back on the right track, encouraging the kids to let Him do the same for them.

“Reading the Bible is something you should do every night,” Midgett said. “That’s God’s playbook for you. You guys all seem to play sports. That’s God’s playbook. He gave it to you so you can fight battles against the devil every day ... and win.”

It wasn’t long, though, before the eyes had turned back to Morant. He seemed to make a new fan with each new story, doing PR work even a politician would envy.

“We have a professional arena football team here,” Morant said later, after the session had ended. “A lot of people don’t even know it’s there. I want people to know about us. We can give them something to do on a rainy day. My goal is to help get the word out.”

OF NOTE: Magic Benton, who already owns career marks for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, has a chance to make more history this weekend. He is second in the af2 record books for points scored by a position player, trailing Arkansas veteran Kevin Williams, 128-127, in that department. ... The af2 office announced this week that ArenaCup VII will be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The game was originally scheduled for Bossier City, La., last year’s host, but there were conflicts with an NFL preseason game. .... Florida has won five straight home games, the longest such streak in franchise history.