Rookie Rams player Lance McCutcheon received a warm welcome from Cedars-Sinai patients during a visit to the hospital’s cancer center. (photo by Joey Waldinger)

Lance McCutcheon, a rookie wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams, made some good plays during the pre-season, yet said he feels he has yet to establish himself since the regular season began on Sept. 8.

So when cancer patients greeted McCutcheon with smiles and gratitude during a Dec. 12 visit to the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Cancer Center, the 23 year old felt humbled, he said.

“To have fans react that way, it means a lot to me,” McCutcheon said.

For approximately an hour, McCutcheon visited patients at the center, chatting about his nascent journey in the NFL, the Rams’ prospects for the season and the cold weather sweeping L.A. McCutcheon and the patients shared laughs and posed for pictures.

Athlete visits are just one of the ways that Cedars-Sinai maintains community relations, spokesperson Melissa Vizcarra said. These efforts become especially important during the holidays, she added.

Danielle Weatherholt, a midfielder for Angel City Football Club, visited Cedars patients on Dec. 7, and on Dec. 21, Cedars-Sinai Chief Nursing Officer David Marshall, dressed as Santa, will spread some good cheer to families in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, Vizcarra said.

“We need more cheer in our patients’ lives,” Vizcarra said. Visits from people like McCutcheon and Marshall, “bring a spark of hope outside of their medical [treatment] day-to-day,” she added.

McCutcheon said he was grateful to be able to bring comfort to patients going through a difficult time.

“To be able to come in, [with patients’] arms open and fully welcoming me in and just being able to have a conversation and introduce myself, it means everything,” he said.

He said that he is looking forward to making more hospital visits as his career continues.

“I definitely want to try to keep this a three-or-four times during the season kind of thing, … to just come in here, laugh around, introduce myself and just meet people for at least an hour,” McCutcheon said.