Packers' Sam Barrington wearing pink with a heavy heart – and a purpose

On Sunday morning, before he runs out onto the grass at Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers linebacker Sam Barrington will think back to a cab ride he took when he was 16 years old. He will be grateful, and heartbroken, and inspired.

Eight years ago, Barrington was a 16-year-old sophomore at Terry Parker High in Jacksonville, Fla. He didn't have his driver's license yet, and there were times when his mom was too busy to take him from football practice to his night job as a cook at Zaxby's. So Barrington called a cab.

On one afternoon, a taxi driver picked him up and introduced himself.

"My name's Travis," he said.

Barrington didn't speak a lot, so the ride was mostly quiet.

The next time, though, Travis Newsome came around again and the two of them started talking. Travis was a football fan.

"Are you on Rivals?" the cabbie asked.

"Not yet," Barrington said. "I guess I haven't made a splash yet."

Travis didn't mind. He liked to tell stories about prep football, and Sam was a good listener. Travis went into detail about big games, like the time in 2000 when Leon Washington's team played against Ciatrick Fason's school. Washington had four touchdowns that day – two on offense, one on defense and one on special teams.

"From that point on," Barrington says, "we built a relationship."

This sounds fishy in the world of big-time Florida football. The 30-something taxi driver becoming friends with the high school athlete? Isn't that the kind of situation that leads to trouble?

But Barrington wasn't a star then. And he says Travis never wanted anything in return.

"Never," he says. "We were friends. As crazy as it sounds, we were friends. We would just talk. It was kind of like an uncle-nephew relationship."

And it's not like Travis was a high-roller. He drove a cab. His wife, Ann, took a job at Dunkin Donuts. As Barrington tells it, the two of them just hit it off.

Eventually, Travis invited Sam over for dinner. Sam met Ann and noticed her warm smile and the way she doted on the couple's two children. Ann reminded Sam of his own mother, and the two families became close.

Barrington went on from Terry Parker High to USF, where he slowly became an NFL prospect. Travis, Ann and their kids, Cheyenne and Centauri, occasionally drove across the state to watch their friend play.

"They would make a couple sweet potato pies and send them to college," Barrington says. "He would never ask for anything. He's one of the most genuine people I know."

In May of 2013, only a few weeks after Barrington was drafted by the Packers, Ann found a lump in her breast. She got it checked out and learned it was Stage 2 breast cancer. She underwent chemo and got a double mastectomy. She kept working, even on some of her weakest days.

The two families stayed close throughout the ordeal. When Sam's mom, Paris Johnson, got a similar scare, the four of them leaned on each other.

"I learned a lot of stuff from him," Barrington says. "He would tell me how to deal with it."

Soon, though, there would be news that no one could deal with. Even after the double mastectomy and the chemo, Ann's cancer returned.

This time, it was Stage 4. Doctors told Ann there was nothing more she could do to stop it.

On Tuesday night, Sam and Travis spoke by phone. Travis spoke and Sam listened. Ann had only a few days left, Travis said. Maybe hours. He had already told the kids that Mommy wouldn't be coming home from hospice. It was all too impossible to fathom: going on without Ann.

"Us men, we're very modest, we're very proud," Barrington says. "We don't show vulnerability. But you could hear it in his voice."

Travis said he wanted to switch places, so he could leave Ann with their kids. Centauri is 8 and Cheyenne is 13. There were way too many moments Ann needed to be there for.

"She was a good soul," he told Sam. "She believed in me, regardless of what I wanted to do."

All Sam could do was listen.

"What can you say?" he says. "What can you say to somebody who is about to lose someone they planned to spend the rest of their life with?"

It made no sense. Ann did everything right. She got her lump checked. She went through the chemo. She got the double mastectomy. She fought hard and remained devoted to her own care and to her family. Nothing worked. She's 35 years old.

The month of October is all about awareness. But Ann was aware. Travis was aware. We need more than awareness. We need a cure.

Barrington and dozens of other NFL players have joined with the NFLPA to sell "One Team For The Cure" shirts to benefit the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. The shirts are on sale throughout this month.

Beyond that, Barrington will dedicate this weekend's game against the Carolina Panthers to Ann.

"I'm going to wear my pink," Barrington says. "But I'm also gonna play my ass off. For her."

Ann Newsome passed away early Friday morning with her family by her side.