According to English publication 'The Daily Mail', Rooney isn't the terrible character that the press would have us believe, with them citing several stories that paint the striker in a more positive light.
One such story is that Rooney once personally approached a shy young autograph hunter who appeared too scared to approach his idol. The story goes that the then 24-year-old Rooney asked the youngster if he could sign his autograph book, before asking for a photo with the youngster.
The former England man was allegedly the only Manchester United player past or present, apart from the great Sir Bobby Charlton, to get in touch with the family of world Cup winner Nobby Stiles when it was revealed that he was struggling with Alzheimer's disease. Rooney sent the midfielder, whose dance with the Jules Rimet trophy in hand is etched into the memories of football fans of a certain age, a hand-written card explaining how much he had enjoyed watching videos of Stiles play and expressing his sadness at hearing of his struggles.
Rooney was also heavily involved in charitable movements and it was reportedly Rooney himself that devised a way of ensuring that more players could make visits to sick children in local hospitals around Christmas and to ensure that more substantial gifts could be distributed.
Though perhaps the most touching story is from when Rooney was just 21, according to Tony Coton's autobiography 'There to be shot at', the club were out celebrating their 2007 title win when the striker struck up a conversation with goalkeeping coach Coton and first-team coach Mike Phelan. "Another one for the collection, hey, lads?" Rooney joked, only to be told about a policy put in place by Club Secretary Ken Merrett that saw club staff receive a cash payment of a few hundred pounds rather than a medal which would cost the club £1,000 each. Rooney was furious, "When we told him about Mr Merrett’s medal policy he was outraged,” Coton recalls, “He couldn’t believe that a club like Manchester United could be so small‑time when it came to sharing out the spoils.” When the pair returned to United's Carrington training base for pre-season, there were packages waiting, with each one containing a solid silver replica of the Premier League trophy worth around £5,000, courtesy of Wayne Rooney. “We were stunned,” Coton explains. “They are absolutely beautiful pieces of work. But for me, their real value isn’t measured in monetary terms. It is the fact they were commissioned by Wayne that makes them so precious.” Rooney stepped up where Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill failed on this occasion.
These are just a few of the tales about Rooney's good side. So, whilst stories about Rooney's excessive drinking, gambling debts and penchant for company of a certain age were the ones that made the headlines maybe, just maybe, the former England international did plenty of good things behind the scenes that we as onlookers were simply never aware of.