'What a great young guy.' NFL Network highlights community work of 49ers Arik Armstead

Mayor Darrell Steinberg with Arik Armstead (left) and NFL Network host Omar Ruiz.

A National Football League Network crew traveled to Sacramento on Nov. 19 to film a segment highlighting the community work of Sacramento native Arik Armstead, who stars on the field as a defensive lineman with the 49ers and in the classroom as a champion of achieving educational equity for kids in underserved neighborhoods.

Armstead was in Sacramento reading to kids in the library of Leataata Floyd school, where he spends a considerable amount of his free time. In 2018, he worked with the nonprofit 916 Ink to take a group of Leataata Floyd students to the Imaginarium, where they learned to develop their artistic abilities and improve their communication skills. He leads a youth football camp in the summer where kids learn skills from NFL players.

“This city raised me; I have a responsibility to the next generation,” Armstead said during his visit to the school, where he was joined by his parents, Guss and Christa.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg participated in the NFL program with an on-camera interview about the significance of Arik’s contributions. “I’m so impressed with this young man. His commitment, his poise at such a young age,” Mayor Steinberg said.

“There are some who (do charity work) because it’s an obligation or they’re told they have to do it. I’ve met Arik a couple of times and he cares intensely about kids and he cares intensely about Sacramento. He’s made it clear to me that he wants a long-term presence here, where he uses his celebrity and his profile to give back, not just one time, not just for the press release, but in a real and sustained way. What a great young guy.”