Max Garcia recognized as week 4 NFLPA Community MVP

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 17: Max Garcia #73 of the Denver Broncos begins to celebrate and tries to get the crowd to get loud in the fourth quarter during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 17: Max Garcia #73 of the Denver Broncos begins to celebrate and tries to get the crowd to get loud in the fourth quarter during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Denver Broncos left guard Max Garcia was recognized as the week four NFLPA community MVP for his devotion to Hurricane Maria relief…

There’s plenty of negative attention given to NFL players these days, it seems, and not nearly enough awareness of the great work some of these men do off the field.

Denver Broncos left guard Max Garcia was greatly affected personally by Hurricane Maria, which cut off all communication to members of his family in Puerto Rico.

He wasn’t able to communicate with them for a week, and two days after he finally was able to connect, his grandfather passed away.

Garcia immediately took action, organizing a donation drive where medicine, first-aid kits, water, diapers, and more items were collected and sent to Puerto Rico on October 2nd.

Even with the rigorous schedule of an NFL athlete, Garcia organized a website where you can easily help relief efforts in Puerto Rico by clicking a button and donating.

More from Predominantly Orange

Garcia has been involved in a ton of off-field work in his time with the Denver Broncos, setting a great example of what it means to be an active part of the community and using his platform as an NFL athlete to make a difference in so many lives.

Garcia is the fifth player recognized by the NFLPA this year as a community MVP, including J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans, free agent Colin Kaepernick, Chris Long of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Long’s teammate Carson Wentz.

This award makes Garcia eligible for the Byron Whizzer White award, a prestigious award given out by the NFLPA every year. The NFLPA will also be making a $10,000 contribution to Garcia’s foundation or the charity of his choice, per the press release linked above.

This is great work by Garcia, and so many Broncos players have been getting involved with hurricane relief this year. The organization as a whole has also done well to raise awareness and donate significant sums of money toward relief efforts.