![\"Brandon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/REG-L-BrandonGeorgeReadingHospital161_copy.jpg\")
Brandon George, linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs and former standout at Berks Catholic, visits Reading Hospital pediatric unit patients, including Caudillo-Santos, 4, on Monday, March 20, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nBrandon George slowly lowered his massive frame, taking a knee beside a small hospital bed to reach the level of the small boy in it.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot, 3-inch, 240-pound NFL linebacker spoke with a softness and calm that contradicted his imposing figure and violent profession. He smiled gently as he quietly asked 4-year-old Ezekiel Caudillo-Santos a handful of questions.<\/p>\n
He asked him his name. He asked if he played any sports. He asked what cartoon he was watching on the TV that hung just past the foot of the bed.<\/p>\n
Brandon George, linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs and former standout at Berks Catholic, visits Reading Hospital pediatric unit patients, including Caudillo-Santos, 4, on Monday, March 20, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Ezekiel, however, proved to be a tough crowd.<\/p>\n
The little boy didn\u2019t utter a word. Not even when George placed an autographed mini football beside him on his bed.<\/p>\n
George was undaunted.<\/p>\n
The former star at Berks Catholic High School and current Kansas City Chief moved on to the next room, looking for another opportunity to spread a little joy.<\/p>\n
After all, that was the whole reason he had stopped by Reading Hospital on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old George, who was named the Reading Eagle\u2019s 2019 male Athlete of the Year before starring at the University of Pittsburgh and making it into the NFL, spent time meeting with each and every young patient in the hospital\u2019s pediatrics wing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to give back to the community a little bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Having grown up in Reading, George is quite familiar with the hospital. He has an aunt who worked there for years as a nurse, and as a boy he attended the hospital\u2019s day care center.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks the same as when I was 5,\u201d he said of driving past the center earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
So when an opportunity arose through Tony Balistrere, director of development for the Reading Hospital Foundation and former Berks Catholic principal, to visit with some of the hospital\u2019s youngest patients, George jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point we\u2019ve all gone through hardships, we\u2019ve all been in the hospital,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to tell them that it\u2019s all going to be OK. I want to try to encourage them and maybe bring a sense of normalcy to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s exactly what he did.<\/p>\n
George hopped from room to room, offering smiles and friendly chats.<\/p>\n
Isaac Chaparro was more than happy to chat back.<\/p>\n
The 13-year-old from Reading wound up in the hospital two days before George\u2019s visit, having broken his ankle playing football. That\u2019s something George knows about all too well, having once had surgery on his ankle for a football-related injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t tickle,\u201d he said, with Isaac nodding in agreement. \u201cBut after the doctors do their thing it feels like new afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaac said that despite how he got injured, football isn\u2019t his favorite sport. He\u2019s a hooper, with his sights set on playing for the Reading High basketball team one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I do like football, too,\u201d he said, adding that his favorite team is the Miami Dolphins.<\/p>\n
Isaac\u2019s cousin, however, is a big Chiefs fan, mostly due to the team\u2019s star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie, he\u2019s him,\u201d George said of his teammate.<\/p>\n
Isaac wasn\u2019t 100% convinced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still think Tom Brady is better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
George conceded that, at this point, Isaac may be right. But quickly added that Mahomes, who is coming off a season-ending injury, has a lot of playing time still in front of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to come back and drop MVP numbers,\u201d George insisted. \u201cJust like you\u2019re going to come back and drop buckets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brandon George slowly lowered his massive frame, taking a knee beside a small hospital bed to reach the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-154353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}