Pinstripe Bowl

"Out of all of the things we were doing this trip, I was looking forward to this one the most," said redshirt junior quarterback Brett Bueker. "It's always nice to give back to the community. Coming out here and seeing the smiles on the kids' faces, that's the best part."

The players signed autographs, participated in arts and crafts projects, tossed around a football and played games like Connect Four and checkers with outpatients before stopping by a handful of patients' rooms for private visits.

"I don't know if they are more excited or we are," said sophomore linebacker Jeremiah George. "I think they're pretty excited. They've got a lot of smiles on their faces, so that's nice. A guy beat me in a game of Connect Four about four times, so I've taken my share of beatings today, but I'm just glad to be here. It's been a lot of fun to give back."

"It will click for them: 'Wait a minute, this guy's from the Bronx. If he can do it, I can do it,'" said the freshman. "If I can do it, the main thing is they can do it, and nothing can stop them as long as they put their heart to it and they listen to their parents. As long as you listen to your teachers and your parents, you will be fine. I didn't realize how important that was."

The day before their matchup against Iowa State, the Scarlet Knights hosted children from the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and the Bronx Colts, a youth recreational league, on the gridiron at Yankee Stadium.

The players and young athletes broke into groups, and after about an hour of lining up for impromptu races, tossing footballs around and talking about the game, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano ended the meeting by stressing the importance of education.

"Without the academic part of this, you don't get to do what these guys are doing," he said, segueing into a brief talk about the merits of being a student-athlete.