Morlon Greenwood signs an autograph for a Houston Texans Blood Drive donor.
Texans linebacker Morlon Greenwood showed his support Tuesday for the Texans Blood Drive by signing autographs and taking pictures with blood donors at the San Jacinto Methodist Hospital.
Greenwood supported the fifth annual drive on its last day and encouraged Texans fans to save lives with their blood donations. The linebacker also visited with donors as they gave blood, lighting up the hospital room with his wide grin.
"I think Morlon helps this a lot," Methodist Blood Drive coordinator Esther Maldonado said. "He helps bring everybody out and gets them riled up and gets them ready for blood donations."
{QUOTE}Greenwood was one of three players who represented the Texans in the drive, which ran from Sept. 29 to Oct. 9 at six different Houston-area locations.
Running back Darius Walker and safety Brandon Mitchell teamed up with the Houston Texans Cheerleaders to kick off the drive at the Methodist Training Center. By spreading the Texans' spirit, the players and cheerleaders helped to make the Texans Blood Drive one of the most successful to date.
"Having them back us and go for that community awareness and that cause is just amazing," Maldonado said. "Having the players come out and having the cheerleaders come out and just rally behind people who might not have donated before or are a little nervous about it, I think it really says a lot about the team and the way they give back to the community."
The Houston Texans, which teamed up with the Methodist Hospital System and Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center for the blood drive, surpassed their goal of 2,000 blood donations. Those donations are needed for any surgery performed at a Methodist Hospital location.
"Any surgeries that we have, we can't do without have blood donations," Maldonado said. "It's truly important because we wouldn't be able to function as a hospital without it."
Greenwood said he was most affected by the fact that one blood donation could truly save a life.
"You never know when a person is going to need blood for a certain operation," Greenwood said. "Giving can affect a lot of people, even by saving one individual life. Sometimes you have a loved one in the hospital that needs blood, and donating blood could save that life and that's tremendous."
