Tamba Hali Tip for $1,000 Makes Kansas Restaurant Employees' Day

The Kansas City Chiefs' football season ended Saturday with a loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but linebacker Tamba Hali is still being recognized for his generosity, after reportedly leaving a $1,000 tip at a restaurant in October.

Hali, who is in his eighth season in the NFL after playing college football at Penn State, took roughly 15 teammates, family and friends out to Fogo de Chao restaurant in Kansas City Oct. 20 after the Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans 17-16, according to KCTV.

The television station suggested that Hali may have been in a good mood after making six tackles and 2.5 sacks, including a forced fumble near the end of the game that clinched the win for Kansas City.

KCTV reported the Hali and his group rang up a bill of more than $1,800 at the all-you-can-eat restaurant. The eatery automatically tacked on a tip of nearly $300. That apparently was not good enough for the linebacker, who added another $1,000 gratuity to the bill, stated the television station.

Restaurant employees, who recognized Hali was one of their regulars, told KCTV they were surprised by the generosity.

"Hands down, it made our day," Joshua Roan, one of the servers, told the television station. "The staff was over the top. He was the last guest in the building. There was a lot of shouting and hollering after he left. We had to wait until he left. We had to keep it professional."

Hali told KCTV that he tries tip well all the time and didn't see his effort as a big deal.

"I have been helped all my life to this point," Hali said. "However, I can give back I try to do that. I do this all the time when I go out because these people work hard. I'm just fortunate to be in this position."

The big tipping NFL linebacker's generosity becomes more heartwarming when fans learn his backstory. Born in war-torn Liberia, his family risked their lives in a harrowing escaping to Ivory Coast and eventually the United States when he was 10, wrote NBC Sports. (http://www.nbcsports.com/joe-posnanski/new-hope-true-story-tamba-hali)

Hali credited his father for making the effort to get his family to the United States after leaving Liberia.

"My father lived up to his word," Hali told The Sporting News in 2006, per NBC Sports. "Most fathers from our country, once they get to the United States, don’t try very hard to bring over their children. But he promised he would not forget us. And he didn’t."

Related stories:

Loudest Stadium? Kansas City Arrowhead Breaks Guinness Record
https://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/loudest-stadium-kansas-city-arrowhead/2013/10/14/id/530818#ixzz2pdQLDkBz

NFL Star Belcher's Body Exhumed for Brain Exam
https://www.newsmax.com/US/belcher-exhumed-brain-exam/2013/12/14/id/541871#ixzz2pdQWZomz