Matthew Odom for The New York Times
With the Atlanta Falcons’ season opener just days away, safety Ricardo Allen, center Alex Mack and defensive end Steven Means had a lot on their plates: new teammates to meet, new game plans to learn and myriad safety protocols designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
On top of all that, they’d scheduled an 8 p.m. Zoom call with the football team from Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta.
So after working 10 hours at the team’s practice facility last Tuesday, the players raced home to grab dinner with their families, and instead of plopping down on their sofas, logged on for a 30-minute talk with the young athletes.