With all the controversy surrounding the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens in the wake of the Ray Rice verdict, it’s good to know that some players are willing to do the right thing even when it is not asked of them. Take, for instance, former nose tackle for the Ravens, Ma’ake Kemoeatu, who made the decision to hang up his pads after finding out that his brother, former Pittsburgh Steeler Chris Kemoeatu, needed a kidney transplant and that he was a perfect match.

"I'm the oldest of the seven kids, and it's my responsibility to take care of my younger brothers and sisters," Ma'ake told The Associated Press. "If my younger siblings need blood, it'll be my blood. If they need a kidney, it'll have to be my kidney."

Chris, Ma’ake’s younger brother by four years, was forced into early retirement following the 2011 NFL season due to his failing kidney. He had been suffering from kidney problems since the age of 14, but only recently learned that he was in dire need of a transplant. After finding out that he was a perfect match for his brother, Ma’ake decided to follow Chris into early retirement following 2012 NFL season. He just didn’t feel right continuing to play when his brother was unable.

"He couldn't play anymore, and I didn't want to be in a position where he couldn't play but I'd keep playing," Ma’ake said. "As soon as my brother's health was at risk, I wanted to stop everything."

Before Chris could accept his brother’s kidney, he would have to undergo coronary bypass surgery, which he had done back in June. On Aug. 27, Chris and Ma’ake were ready for transplant surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Even though each patient’s weight — Chris at 385 pounds and Ma’ake at roughly 345 pounds — made the surgical team’s job that much harder, the transplant was a success and the Kemoeatu brothers are already halfway through their six-week recovery period.

"I knew in my mind that he's fighting a kidney and now he has to have heart surgery," Ma'ake said. "I said to him, it's going to be OK. I talked to him in football aspects. I said, 'All right, we're not going to get this in the first down, but we're fourth and long right now and we have to go deep. We'll make it through the first down, the heart surgery, to the end zone, the kidney transplant."