Eric Wood

Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood (70) runs on the the field before an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)

(Bill Wippert)

Buffalo, N.Y. — It was one event, held by one group of players, but on Monday night down by the harbor in downtown Buffalo, Bills center Eric Wood and his teammates showed that NFL players can still do good.

For a few hours in that ballroom, nobody questioned the morality of the NFL. Ray Rice wasn't a topic of conversation, nor was Adrian Peterson or Roger Goodell. It was about a group of players connecting with members of the community, coming together to raise thousands of dollars for Carly's Club for Kids and Cancer Research in Western New York.

When the Buffalo Bills alumni association presented Wood with a check for $2,500 to the cause, it carried a simple message: You won't be remembered for what you did on the field but rather what you did in the community.

If that's the case, the players at Wood's event on Monday took a step toward building a relationship with those in the community. It was Wood personally thanking nearly every person that walked through the door. It was C.J. Spiller taking pictures with anyone who asked and Sammy Watkins signing his way through the crowd that surrounded him the minute he walked into the room.

The rookies got their first taste, too. Offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio stood behind the bar all night serving drinks, with all tips going to the Eric Wood Foundation and Carly's Club. These players aren't the only ones in the NFL doing good, and what they did on Monday can't undo the damage other NFL players have done to the league's reputation, but for one night it was a reminder that NFL players aren't all bad.

"You talk about guys who sacrifice most of their Tuesdays for charity work or nightly hospital visits that never make it to the paper," Wood said. "That's not why the guys do it, to get good publicity. But at the same point, if all the guys are going to talk about is the four bad guys in the NFL and everyone's going to get labeled, why don't we all pumped up our teammates when they do something good?"

By the end of the night, Wood, his teammates and everyone in attendance had raised thousands for charity. Quarterback Kyle Orton bid up the price on a pair of tickets and field passes for the Bills' Week 6 game against the Patriots only to donate the money and put the tickets back up for auction. Then Wood and tight end Scott Chandler got the crowd going with a duet of Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places."

When the Bills woke up on Tuesday, there was still a game to play on Sunday. More people will care about the result of that game than will about what happened on Monday night. That's just the reality of professional sports.

But as time goes by, and Wood and other Bills players continue to make their mark on a region that is starting to revive itself, people in the community won't remember whether the Bills beat the Texans in 2014. They might, however, remember the connection Wood made with people when nobody was watching.

"I think the NFL is starting to realize that the sponsors and viewers that keep this thing going, they will be sensitive to some of these issues," Wood said. "We need to reassure them that good things are happening."