CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals tight end Drew Sample is looking to extract family members out of Ukraine during Russia’s invasion of the country.
Sample and his wife, Angelina, told Fox News on Monday morning that Ang’s aunt and her grandparents on both sides of her family are still in the war-torn country.
“For us, we’ve just been trying to see if there’s anything we can do to set up a plan where we can get them to us so they feel comfortable leaving, because it’s obviously dangerous for them,” Drew Sample told Fox News.
According to a report from Cincinnati’s WCPO-TV, Angelina was born in Ukraine and later moved to the United States. The two met while they were in college and were married while Drew was still playing at the University of Washington, per the Seattle Times.
Ang Sample told the TV network on Monday that she has remained in contact with family members during Russia’s military invasion, which has drawn mounting international sanctions and a reprimand from the United Nations.
“We watch it on the news, but for me to just be putting my [children] down for a nap in the afternoon and I want to call my grandma; I call them up on the phone and they answer it, and they’re sitting in the dark in the basement,” she said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”
Drew Sample, 25, just wrapped up his third season in the NFL. The second-round pick in the 2019 draft is Cincinnati’s primary reserve tight end. Last season, he had 11 catches for 81 yards as the Bengals reached the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years. Cincinnati lost Super Bowl LVI to the Los Angeles Rams.
Ang Sample told Fox News on Monday that her family members live in rural areas and are not looking to flee the country to a bordering nation as refugees because of their lack of connections outside of Ukraine.
“For us, it’s hard because there’s really no good answers,” Drew Sample said.