So what if he's more comfortable tackling a receiver or running back than tackling a table for two.

Shane Van Diest might have been out of his element waiting tables at Romano's Macaroni Grill Tuesday night, but it didn't show. He carried the tray of bread and bottle of wine like he'd done it all his life. Then came the tough task.

The server he was shadowing, Brittany Ditto, wrote her name upside down on the white paper table cloth as is customary of waiters at the restaurant. So Van Diest picked up the red crayon and scribbled his name as best he could. It was more chicken scratch than cursive, but wasn't bad for upside down. The people at the table didn't care anyway. They just began asking questions about football.

"I've never worked at a restaurant before so I'm not sure if I'm going to remember anything," Van Diest said.

Van Diest was one of 20-some Carroll College athletes, coaches and administrators on hand at the Macaroni Grill and Chili's Grill & Bar as part of Celebrity Service Night, a fundraiser for the Good Samaritan program. All the waiters donated their tips for the evening and members of the community donated checks. A portion of the night's earnings also went to the charity.

Student athletes representing every sport at Carroll were paired up with servers to try their hand at waiting tables. Meanwhile, head football coach Mike Van Diest and basketball coach Gary Turcott perused the room, visiting with members of the community. Athletic director Bruce Parker carried platters of food from the kitchen. Carroll president Tom Trebon and women's basketball coach Shawn Nelson greeted people at the door.

"We're not usually this busy on a Tuesday and we've had a lot of new faces come in," said Luis Lainez, general manager of the Macaroni Grill. "Everyone seems to be having a good time."

The athletes, donning purple jerseys and T-shirts, seemed to enjoy the chants in the kitchen and singing happy birthday to customers moreso than seeing how many glasses they could carry.

Community members said it was nice to see the athletes they support outside of sports activities.

"Bruce and I were just talking one day about doing something like this, so this whole thing was basically planned while sitting on a bleacher at the football stadium," said Theresa Ortega, executive director of the Good Samaritan program.

Not all were new to the restaurant scene. Soccer coach Dave Thorvilson said he had worked in the industry for three years. Basketball player Nicole Leibach waits tables at the Mackenzie River Pizza Co. in the summer and football player Cody Lamb said he used to work at Pizza Hut.

But Zach Parks was nervous. As a server asked the senior post player on the basketball team if he wanted to try carrying a tray he let out a quick "No."

"I don't want to spill the food," he said, more eager to seat people. Glancing at the cooks in the kitchen, he told a fellow server that he could never be a cook.

"Too much pressure," he said.

"Isn't there pressure playing a basketball game?" someone asked him.

"That's a completely different kind of pressure," Parks said.

The athletes said the experience was a rewarding one and adoring fans seemed happy with the service, too. One table of young girls even cut out a paper heart for Shane Van Diest, complete with their phone numbers on it.

"It's been a fun night," Van Diest said. "It's nice to be able to do this for the community since they always support us."

Amber Kuehn: 447-4079 or amber.kuehn

@helenair.com