NFL and MLB icon Bo Jackson paid $170,000 to cover all the funeral expenses for the 21 victims of the Uvalde mass shooting, it has been revealed.
The athlete has identified himself as the anonymous donor who gave money three days after a gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
Mr Jackson says he has no links with the town other than he used to stop there for food and groceries on long road trips across the country during his professional career.
“Uvalde is a town that sticks in your mind. Just the name,” Mr Jackson told the Associated Press. “I don’t know a soul there. It just touched me.”
Mr Jackson, a Heisman Trophy winner at Auburn who went on to star for both the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL and the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball, said he had been deeply impacted by the shooting.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting old. It’s just not right for parents to bury their kids. It’s just not right,” the father-of-three told the news outlet.
“I know every family there probably works their butts off just to do what they do. The last thing they needed was to shell out thousands of dollars for something that never should have happened.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has praised the athlete for the donation.
“The true spirit of our nation is Americans lifting up one another in times of need and hardship,” Mr Abbott said in a statement.
“We are truly grateful for the generosity of Texans and Americans like Bo Jackson, who have stepped up to help in the aftermath of the shooting at Robb Elementary School. When we asked people to support the Uvalde community in the days after, Bo did not hesitate in reaching out to my office to offer his help to the grieving families.”
