Smith interned at the Batch Foundation and worked as a social outreach manager. Five years ago, he spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony and served as the event’s emcee on Wednesday.

“This place is a safe haven for kids,” Smith said. “They don’t look at it as a school. They look at it as a family, an extension of their own. They know they can talk to us, be open with us, and that we’re going to take care of them.”

Smith then invoked one of his favorite sayings from the charismatic and downright hilarious Wilson-Batch.

Learn It, Earn It, Return It.

It’s how Smith developed a passion for volunteer work. It’s also why he donated his time with the Fiesta Bowl in its charitable efforts this past year, along with several other organizations, and why he endured the most absurd travel itinerary I think I’ve ever heard to get here.

Smith said he couldn’t get a flight out of Phoenix because it was the day after the NCAA men’s basketball championship, so he drove to Tucson, Ariz., thinking he might get one there. No luck. After driving back and taking a bus to Las Vegas, he said he flew the ol’ Vegas-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Pittsburgh route and arrived around 7 Wednesday morning.

“I had to make it,” Smith said, shaking his head. “It was mandatory — it’s family. What they did for me growing up, I could never repay them. So whatever I can do, I’ll always be there for them. Growing up, it wasn’t the best area. But I love being able to change the narrative.”

Too often in sports, we get wrapped up in who’s traded, who isn’t performing and should be traded or benched, who’s unhappy, why a coach or manager made a certain call or what a contract might mean in the context of a salary cap or that player’s career.

It’s fun but also fodder in the larger scheme of things. There’s another side here that doesn’t get highlighted enough: Those who use their platform for good.

Batch carved out a solid career, throwing for 11,085 yards and 61 touchdowns over 15 seasons, 11 with the Steelers, the final eight of them as a backup. Yet it pales in comparison to the work he’s done off the field.

...continued

©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.