According to the Sacramento Bee, former New York Giant running back Brandon Jacobs, a free-agent signee of the San Francisco 49ers, recently took 6-year-old Joseph Armento and his 4-year-old brother to Jump On In bounce house in Boonton, N.J., as a gesture of gratitude for Armento’s desire to keep the running back with the Giants.
Joseph send $3.36 to Jacobs in an attempt to keep him as a member of the Giants.
Jacobs was moved by the gesture. He planned to take Joseph to Chuck E. Cheese with his son, Brayden, when he returned to New Jersey to gather some of his belongings.
“He told me he really wanted to get out there with the kids,” Julie Armento told The Bee. “He really wanted to enjoy it, and he did. It was amazing.”
Jacobs played alongside the three boys for a couple of hours.
“It was just us in the whole place and we were just going room to room — just bouncing and flipping all over the place, hitting each other with balls, sweating, our shirts filthy,” Jacobs told The Bee. “We were just dirty, stinky boys, you know?”
Jacobs was released by the Giants on March 9 after the two sides could not agree on terms of a restructured contract. He signed with the 49ers as a free agent after spending seven seasons with the Giants and winning two Super Bowls.
Joseph Armento did not get his wish of keeping his favorite running back in blue, but Jacobs gave one of his biggest fans a signed Giants helmet and memories he won’t soon forget.
In turn, Jacobs said Armento’s loyalty has motivated him.
“I’m at a point in my career when people have stopped believing in me and not believing that I can still play,” Jacobs said. “But that’s not the case. Joe believes in me, gave me a lot of confidence and a lot of want-to. And I’m ready to go. I can’t wait until the season starts.”
Jacobs also gave Armento a $5 bill to refill his piggy bank.
“He had some interest in there just for being a good kid,” Jacobs said. “He’s worth a lot more than that $5 bill I gave him.”
