Chatham Football Captains Give Back to Community

In a gesture of giving back to the community, Chatham High School senior football captains Sam Failla, Colin Brown, Matt Babakian and Nick Ball donated a flower arrangement to Juniper Village residents at noon on Saturday.

The captains of the team have been playing football together since the fifth grade—first in the Chatham recreation program and then for Chatham High School. 

Back when they were in eighth grade, they used the Juniper Village front lawn once to practice. "The flowers are our way of saying thank you," Failla said.

As the boys stood outside of Juniper Village and looked at the lawn, they were surprised that they were able to practice in such a small area.  

"I guess that was back when we kept running flanker-pass plays," Brown said.

"Juniper Village thrives on community outreach programs," said Leslie Greenberg, director of community relations.

Juniper Village, which has three free concerts each week, has "a steady stream of cub scouts, girl scouts, dance troupes and other senior center groups involved in activities with our residents," Greenberg said.

The Cougars, who lost in the first round of the state playoffs each of the past three years, may be without Failla, the team's starting quarterback who injured his ankle in practice last week, for the team's season-opener against Hackettstown.