Youngsters SO EXCITED to meet Micah Hyde! Packers cornerback reads to children
GERMANTOWN (WITI) -- Evaluating a player in the NFL Draft can sometimes be an educated guess, but the Green Bay Packers "read" on Micah Hyde turned out to be right on. As for Hyde -- he has a pretty good read on kids!
From Day One, Packers GM Ted Thompson's vision has been to build the Packers through the draft.
Cornerback Micah Hyde is another example of Thompson's eye for spotting talent.
The 2013 fifth round draft choice from Iowa played in every game and led all club rookies in tackles. He also served as the primary punt and kick returner.
The Packers think so much of his abilities that he's been asked to slide over to safety as an experiment.
Could starting be in his future?
"I really don't care at all. As long as I'm on the field, I'll be okay with that," Hyde said.
Either way, Micah Hyde has made a successful leap from college into the pros.
On Monday night, June 9th, Micah Hyde made a leap of another kind.
He read to kids at a library in Germantown.
The Packers teamed up with Edvest to encourage young people to read during the summer.
"Just to give these kids someone to look up to, and somebody that's been there before. That's when these kids will realize that to be successful, you've got to know how to read, and you've got to read a lot," Hyde said.
23-year-old Micah Hyde -- an Ohio native has a heart for kids.
During college, he worked with mentally challenged youngsters and started a foundation that collected sporting goods from area schools and donated them to the Boys & Girls Club of Cedar Rapids.
For Micah Hyde, it's all part of paying it forward.
"When I was younger -- when I was their age and I had a professional whatever come in and talk to us, I was always all eyes and ears trying to listen and see what was going on, so I know it's huge -- and I try to give back as much as possible," Hyde said.
Micah Hyde knows the history of the Packers, but traveling to different parts of the state has been something of an eye-opener for the second-year pro.
"We're up in Green Bay all day practicing and stuff like that, and finally you get to get out and you get to see how big of fans these people really are -- and how excited these kids are and it just puts it back into perspective. You are doing something that all these people love. It makes you want to go back and keep working hard and keep doing things so that you can remain being a mentor or a role model," Hyde said.
Students who discipline themselves to read this summer will have a chance to win college savings accounts valued at $1,000 each -- plus tickets to Family Night.
The Leap into Reading program began last Friday, June 6th at more than 240 Wisconsin public libraries.