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Giving spirit makes Bengals' Peko a hit with kids

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By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer 10:29 PM Saturday, December 31, 2011

CINCINNATI — No regular-season game in recent Bengals history has had any more meaning than this one with Baltimore today. And I’m not just talking about what could occur on the field, but also with what will be happening in the stands at sold-out Paul Brown Stadium for some 40 children from the St. Monica’s Recreation Center in the Lincoln Heights area of Cincinnati.

That’s all because of Domata Peko, the 322-pound defensive tackle who not only will be trying to prevent anything positive happening for the Ravens offense, but at the same time making sure nothing but good happens for all those youngsters, many of whom are in need.

Win and in — that’s the playoff scenario for the Bengals today.

As for the St. Monica’s kids, they’re already in a special place — they’re in awe of the Bengal lineman with the thick body, the big hair and the even bigger heart.

“The kids call him Santa Peko,” said Michael Pearl, the director of St. Monica’s.

The reference made Peko laugh after practice Friday: “Well, I did put on a Santa hat for them and I’ve got the beard already and my wife Anna and I do like to give.”

That’s never been more evident than this holiday season and especially today.

The hard-nosed defender from Pago Pago, American Samoa, is also known for his caring side. When a tsunami ravaged parts of his homeland a couple of years ago, Peko — along with fellow Samoan Bengals Jonathan Fanene and Rey Maualuga — returned to the island and not only gave substantial monetary support but handed out equipment to all the high school football teams.

And then a few weeks ago, Peko, Maualuga, Andrew Whitworth, Nate Clements and Reggie Nelson took 50 underprivileged kids on a Shop-With-A-Bengal trip to Toys “R” Us. Each youngster could spend up to $300. The one stipulation was that they buy at least one gift for someone else.

Then right before Christmas he put on the Santa cap for St. Monica’s, which is one of the ministries of the Episcopalian order of nuns known as the Sisters of the Transfiguration.

“A lot of people in Cincinnati, when they think of Lincoln Heights, they only think of the negatives you sometimes hear — things like shootings and drug busts,” said Pearl. “But we have great kids who are into so many positive things, often in spite of their circumstances.

“They face lots of obstacles — poverty, drugs in the neighborhood, single-parent homes, things you equate more to the inner city than where we are (north of the city.) But our facility gives the kids a safe place to go after school to stay off the streets, participate in positive activities and hopefully to learn and grow so one day when they’re older they can be real contributors to society.”

Pearl said the connection to Peko came in quite a round-about way:

“There’s a lady named Sharon Thompson and she and her husband, Rick, own three Johnny Rockets restaurants in Cincinnati. Mrs. Thompson has an association with one of the nuns — Sister Althea — and she wanted to do something special for her. But Sister Althea said she’d rather they did it for the kids at St. Monica’s.”

One of the Thompson restaurants is located on The Banks, a spot along the Ohio River between Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park. Several Bengals eat there, especially Peko, who has ended up with a sandwich named after him — the Lotta Domata — and promises $1 from every sale will be donated to the United Way of Cincinnati.

The Pekos and Thompsons have become friendly, and when the plan to help St. Monica’s arose, they banded together.

“All the kids were invited to the downtown restaurant and they could order anything off the menu,” Pearl said. “That’s was great in itself, but then Domata and Anna were there and they brought seven or eight Bengals with them and it ended up just a fabulous time.”

Peko said he wanted to make sure the kids had a Christmas they wouldn’t forget:

“Being in the NFL, I’ve got a little more of an opportunity than most people to do something for other people and I feel I should — that’s the way I was raised.

“I know many of the kids at St. Monica’s don’t have a lot, so my wife and I — and I gotta say Anna was the backbone on all of this — we bought presents for all of them and got some stuff for the center, too.”

Pearl said every boy got a football, girls got bags of cosmetics and everybody got autographed pictures and Bengals and Johnny Rockets t-shirts. And the kids who did the best in school and are well behaved and in some kind of need got everything from bicycles to portable DVD players and Game Boy video games.

Peko gave the center a 55-inch flat screen TV, Wii and PlayStation games and lots of sports equipment.

But the best gift he gave was his “down-to-earth friendship,” said Pearl.

“A lot of times we watch these guys on TV, guys we don’t know anything about, and we put them up on a pedestal,” Pearl said. “Well, after meeting the Bengals players there, and especially Domata and Anna, you really felt good about them.

“Domata really was so caring and considerate. He and Anna hugged every child who came in. They sat and talked with the kids about staying in school and following their faith and working hard no matter what their circumstances were. That was really significant for our kids because that’s what they are facing.

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