SAN FRANCISCO — The Maryland football team spent Sunday morning volunteering at St. Anthony's Dining Room in San Francisco, which has provided meals to the less fortunate since 1950.
Coach Randy Edsall, Terps players and members of Maryland's football staff, who are in town for Tuesday's Foster Farms Bowl, helped prepare food, put it onto trays and deliver it to tables.
Other players, such as left tackle Jake Wheeler and running backs Wes Brown and Joe Riddle, served as bus boys.
Maryland's offense had the first shift, which went from 9:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Defensive players then took over from 10:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.
"This is just a great opportunity for our young men to be able to help out people and to give back to the San Francisco community, who has been so gracious to us in our stay here, and really to get our guys to understand that football is just a game, but this is life," Edsall said. "[This will] hopefully get them to understand that they can make a difference in other people's lives who are a little bit less fortunate."
Edsall was part of a group that delivered trays to tables during the first shift, a rotation that included quarterback C.J. Brown and wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Deon Long.
At one point, freshman tackle Derwin Gray, who was helping to prepare trays, joked with Edsall: "Hey, coach, you're moving too slow."
Edsall's joked back: "Just make sure you're not eating the food back there."
Wide receiver Jacquille Veii said: "It's just great to come out here and help these people in need. It puts things into perspective for me, and it's very humbling."
Edsall and the players also gave out more than just food and drinks.
Edsall began the day wearing a black Maryland jacket made by Under Armour. When a person at St. Anthony's asked Edsall if the coach could get him one of the jackets, Edsall took his jacket off and gave it to the man.
Center Sal Conaboy gave a hat he was wearing to a person at St. Anthony's.
Players also spent time interacting with the various people at the Dining Room.
"Everybody has got a big old smile on their face," said Maryland freshman offensive lineman Damian Prince, who said he has volunteered at a food bank in Washington, D.C. "I think that's probably the best part of this."