Lake Stevens High School Football Players Surprise Birthday Boy Dressed As Superheroes

Lake Stevens football players dressed in superhero costumes and surprised local boy Grayson Wright for his fourth birthday party last month. Wright’s family has gone through a tough time after his mother, Aliciasue, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer this summer. (Rio Vitale)

Lake Stevens High School Football: No. 1 in state and in young boy’s heart

Lake Stevens resident Aliciasue Wright and her family were in need of a helping hand after experiencing some tough times recently. Wright, a 2002 Lake Stevens High School graduate, already was battling multiple sclerosis when she was diagnosed in July with a rare form of cancer called primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma.

Wright wanted to do something special for her son Grayson’s fourth birthday party last month, but finances were tight. She posted on a Lake Stevens mothers’ Facebook page, offering to pay a local high-schooler $20 to spend a half-hour dressed as a superhero at her son’s party.

It led to something far greater than she ever imagined.

“It was amazing,” Wright said.

Lake Stevens standout senior running back Dallas Landeros heard about the situation from his mother, who’d seen the post on Facebook. Landeros had a Central Washington University recruiting visit scheduled for the same day as the birthday party, but he decided to postpone the trip until another weekend so that he could dress as a superhero and surprise Grayson on his special day.

Landeros didn’t know the family, yet that didn’t stop him from choosing the party over his recruiting visit.

“As soon as (my mother) told me what was going on, I was 100 percent all in, because I feel like if I was in the kid’s situation with everything going on, that’s something that he’s not going to forget,” said Landeros, who turned down the money Wright offered. “… Central Washington invited me to their home game and I was planning on doing that, but I figured that this was a little bit more long-lasting and important.”

After Landeros told a teammate of his plan, word quickly spread to other Lake Stevens players. Before long, eight other Vikings were in on it. Landeros bought a Black Panther costume on Amazon.com, and the others also obtained superhero gear in preparation.

Meanwhile, after hearing about Landeros’ plan, Lake Stevens running backs coach Jim Lussier collected a slew of donations from the Vikings’ coaching staff. Lussier used the money to buy gift cards for the family and presents that his players could give to Grayson and his sister.

“It’s one of the coolest things that I’ve got to be a part of as a coach in all my years coaching football, just to know that kids are acting unselfishly and doing right by the community,” Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri said.

A whole pack of superheroes assembled the following afternoon in Lake Stevens. They rode to the party in Lussier’s truck, then piled out onto the driveway in front of the overjoyed birthday boy.

“The excitement and the joy on (Grayson’s) face was priceless,” Lussier said.

The following Friday they were under the lights. Big and tough in their helmets and pads.

But at least one family knows better. They know that underneath it all, they’re just a bunch of sweet-hearted softies. Who also happen to be superheroes.

Sources: