FOXBORO -- Tom Brady wanted to do what he could.
When he heard of the death of Calvin Riley, a 20-year-old junior college baseball player who graduated from Brady's alma mater of Serra High in San Mateo, the Patriots quarterback took a moment to write a letter to Riley's family.
Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden detailed Brady's small act of kindness for a story that was published this week.
"A friend of mine from high school had told me the situation and how special a kid Calvin was," Brady said when asked about the piece during a press conference Thursday. "You know, it's just something that I thought I could do to maybe raise [the Riley family's] spirits a little bit . . . Very tragic situation."
Brady noted that it's important to him, as it is to many in the Patriots locker room, to use the platform he has in order to help those in need when he can.
"I think it's just, you know, everyone faces different challenges in their life," Brady said. "That would be something that would be very tragic. I've had different people pick me up at different times. You always appreciate those things, and you always remember them. I couldn't imagine having to go through what the family has had to go through over the course of this period.
"I think our team does a lot of things, and a lot of players in our locker room do a lot of things to try to make positive impacts in the community when we can. You hate for it to be under those circumstances, but unfortunately some tragic things happen and you just do what you can do to help."