Ex-Football Player Gives $12,000 to Quadriplegic

A former college football player who lost a kidney when he protected his niece during a gang shooting has turned over a gift check of $12,000 to a man left paralyzed by a high school football injury.

Mark Seay, who was a wide receiver for Cal State Long Beach, was to have been the recipient of the $12,000 raised by listeners of radio station KACE-AM to help with his medical costs.

But Seay, whose treatment was covered by a crime victim’s assistance program, chose to give the money to Sean Powell, a quadriplegic since suffering an injury while playing football for Paramount High School.

Powell now attends USC.

Seay was wounded Oct. 30 of last year while he shielded his 2-year-old niece during a drive-by shooting at a Halloween party at his home in Compton.

Seay recently lost a court battle to be reinstated to Long Beach’s football team, which had declared him ineligible because of his injury.