- Tyler "Ninja" Blevins is the world's most famous gamer. Ninja earns as much as $500,000 a month playing "Fortnite" for millions of followers, and was named to Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential people.
- In honor of Mother's Day, ESPN's SportsCenter asked Ninja to write a letter to his mother thanking her for taking care of him and his siblings.
- As he finished reading the letter aloud, Ninja's mom Cynthia Blevins surprised him on camera with a hug.
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Tyler "Ninja" Blevins is the world's most famous gamer, earning as much as $500,000 a month playing "Fortnite" for more than 13 million followers every day. He's played games with celebrities like Drake, Jimmy Fallon, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and earlier this year Ninja was named to Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential people.
But as Mother's Day approaches, a new video highlighting Ninja's relationship with his mom reminds us that fame and success is rarely earned alone. For the video, ESPN's SportsCenter asked Ninja to write a thank-you letter to his mother, Cynthia Blevins, and read it aloud on camera. Ninja, the youngest of the three brothers, thanked her for teaching him and his brothers positive mortals and values.
When he began reading the letter, his mother wasn't in the room, but she was nearby and listening (ESPN wanted to surprise Ninja).
"Mom, all I want to do is keep being the man that you raised me to be, and bring as much joy to people's lives as you do," Ninja said.
As he finished reading, his mother arrived for a surprise visit. The two embraced and shared kind words as he continued to recall the sacrifices his mother had made during his childhood. Despite looking after three boys as a stay-at-home mom, Cynthia Blevins worked a full-time remote job and earned a master's degree at the same time.
"When you love your children, you just do whatever you need to do to be a good mom and help them grow up to be good people," Blevins said.
Before she could finish, Ninja told his mother, "you were perfect."
.@Ninja wasn't ready for this Mother's Day surprise ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VIwUTnhaz7
- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 9, 2019