NFL player Zay Jones was moved by an encounter with a kindhearted stranger over the weekend — and he's sharing the emotional story to inspire others.
The Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver, 25, who is black, tweeted over the weekend about how an older white woman offered a message of support to him as global protests raged over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
"I was just at a local home goods store w/ my cousin getting furniture for my place when an elderly white woman approached me at the check out counter. she looked at me w/ tears in her eyes ... & then said 'I’m from Minneapolis & I just want you to know "you matter to me,"'" Jones tweeted Saturday.
"I hesitated to hug her bc she was wearing a mask from practicing social distancing, but I asked if she wanted a hug and she folded into my arms. She cried while she told me how important it is to spread love. I didn’t get her name but I’m grateful for the encounter," he wrote.
Jones ended his message by asking fans to be kind to others.
"Beautiful hearts still exist. be the example. be the light. love others," he wrote.
Jones' tweet garnered more than 800,000 likes and touched the hearts of many fans.
"We need to hear things like this at a time like this," one responded.
"Thank you for sharing," wrote another. "This matters to all of us who care."