TAMPA, Fla. — There’s no place like home.

Especially when professional football players are the ones helping lay down the foundation and making it a solid one.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Tampa Bay Bucs joined forces with Habitat for Humanity

  •  The Bucs sponsored a new home build for a first-time homeowner and several players put their construction skills to the test

  •  Single mom Bianca Anderson was overwhelmed by all the help from the players

The Tampa Bay Bucs joined forces with Habitat for Humanity to help build a new home for a single mother. It was the players' day off, and they spent it by bringing this mom one step closer to making herself at home.

“It’s a little bit emotional, just because I know without all of the help we wouldn’t get done as quickly without them,” Habitat for Humanity homeowner Bianca Anderson said.

Players didn’t shy away from hard work. This is a team that knows if you put in the work, big things can happen. That applies to building a home too.

“Just being in here and being able to create these moments with them, even though it’s a little bit of work and it’s not like the main foundation, I feel like it’s great,” Bucs linebacker Jose Ramirez said.

Ramirez can appreciate putting a roof over a family’s head. Growing up and playing football in Auburndale, he and his family moved around a lot. Sometimes apartments, other times hotels. Raised by a single mother, Ramirez learned at an early age the importance of family.

“It was always blessing at the end of the day to have all those people around me cause at the end of the day you have family,” he said. “And wherever your home is, that’s where family is.”

That’s why the Bucs volunteer each year to help build a Habitat for Humanity home. They want families to feel secure and not worry about where they are going to lay their heads each night. The Bucs make home sweet home a little sweeter.

“Home is where the heart is,” Ramirez said. “It’s a blessing.”