This is a story about paying it backwards.
A year ago, Mike Sainristil was playing football on Saturdays, as a star defensive back for Michigan football . Today, he plays on Sundays, as a promising rookie for the Washington Commanders .
As a professional, he gets paid a handsome salary, although the business aspects, like getting cut, have taken some getting used to. “I could be sitting next to a guy in a position meeting in the morning,” Sainristil said, “and after lunch, he’s not even there. It’s wild.”
But one thing hasn’t changed through all his years of football, from high school player of the year in Massachusetts to MVP of the Big Ten championship game, to making the biggest defensive play of U-M’s College Football Playoff championship victory ( an 82-yard interception ) to being announced as a second-round NFL draft pick and a starter from the jump in Washington.
HIS TIME IN ANN ARBOR: Making Mike Sainristil: The unsung hero of Michigan football’s resurgence
Here is what hasn’t changed:
He was born in Haiti.
And he’s only getting to do what he’s done because he got out.
“Over the years, growing up, hearing my parents talk about Haiti and my culture,” he says, “I know I come from a place where there are really good people who don’t get the opportunity to do great things because of their circumstances.”
Sainristil’s father, Carlot, is one of them. He was a radio station operator in Haiti when, after the elections in 2000, he began receiving death threats. Death threats in Haiti are serious business, with gang members more than willing to act on promised violence. For the safety of his family, Carlot moved his wife and kids to Everett, Massachusetts.
Without that, there is no football for Mike. No college. No NFL. The Sainristils can’t even be sure they’d be alive, given the history of violence in Haiti that still goes on today.
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“There’s kids there with amazing potential who, unfortunately, time after time, goes to waste because they don’t get the opportunity,” Sainristil said.
The 24 year-old, who just welcomed a baby daughter of his own, vowed one day he would do something for those Haitian kids if he ever got the chance.
Recently, he got the chance.
The No. 0 jersey, and so much more
Upon signing his NFL contract, Sainristil contacted me, saying with his new salary, he wanted to donate to the orphanage I have operated in Haiti for the last 14 years. We’d only met a couple times, always in media settings. So I was surprised when I heard from him, and even more surprised when he said he had a teammate interested in helping as well.
“Marcus Mariota,” he said, “is going to match my donation.”
Now, if I barely knew Sainristil, I didn’t know Mariota at all. I’d watched him play, in college and the NFL, but that was it. Yet, under the heading of “good things happen in strange ways,” here’s how they both became involved.
Sainristil, upon joining the Commanders, was assigned the No. 2 jersey. He was partial to No. 0, since he’d worn it during his best years at Michigan. But the 0 jersey for Washington was being worn by Mariota, the veteran quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner.
“Originally I was just gonna pay him for it, you know?” Saintristil said. “Buy it off of him. But this was very selfless of him. He basically said he was content and wasn’t looking to make money from me. Instead, he said he’d give me the number but, ‘Why don’t you pick a foundation or a charity and I’ll match your donation?’
“For him to say that meant a lot to me. I’ve been an admirer of his since he was playing for Oregon. And when I told him were I wanted to donate, he was like, ‘Look, anything we can do to change lives there, let’s do it.’
'A full-service moment'
What a pleasant change this is from the recent bogus and insulting charges against Haitians. Instead of pointing at the few who reach America as unwelcome intruders, Sainristil and Mariota want to lend a hand to those in Haiti who can’t get out.
The Haitian passport remains one of the most unwelcome in the world . There are no countries in North America, South America or Europe that accept it freely. Special visas, rarely given, must be obtained. Which means the people there are largely stuck. Located just 700 miles off the coast of Florida, Haiti remains the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere , with more than half the country below the poverty line. The difference between life here and life there is the difference between a sunny balcony and a basement.
At the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage, an average of 60 kids a year have shelter, education, nutritious food, their own beds, 24-hour security, free religious practice, access to the arts and sports, and, perhaps most importantly, medical care, with two full-time doctors and multiple nurses on staff.
This is where Sainristil and Mariota’s donation will be directed. Their $30,000 contribution will help pay for the medical clinic operation, medical staff and medicines. As NFL players blessed with doctors, trainers, and specialists always nearby, providing basic health care for orphaned children seemed fitting to the two of them.
“Have Faith Haiti has been making an incredible difference for the kids of Haiti,” Mariota said. “And to partner with Mike is a full-service moment for me. At a young age, my parents instilled in my brother and me the value of helping others. Sharing that value with Mike as he enters the NFL is important.”
So this is a story about paying it backwards. Mariota wants to inspire a younger teammate to be charitable, the way his parents inspired him. Sainristil wants to honor where he came from and his father, whose escape made his son’s life possible. And he made the donation in the name of his high school football coach from Everett, a strong, smiling man named Reynaldi “Rizz” Audate, who died three years ago at age 35 from kidney and heart issues.
“Rizz was more than a coach to me, he was an older brother," Sainristil said. "He guided, led, provided and helped me mature. He taught me life and he taught me football. He told me my future was bright. He said I was going to be special.
“I guess he had evaluation super powers.”
Or maybe he just believed in a kid’s potential, like Sainristil and Mariota are doing now. It will make such a difference. The children in Haiti may never get to meet them. But their lives will be forever affected — and perhaps even saved —by Sainristil and Mariota's efforts.
That’s a whole lot of something for two guys with the number zero.
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com . Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com . Follow him @mitchalbom .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mitch Albom: Mike Sainristil, with teammate's help, looks to past to change Haiti's future
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