Jacksonville Jaguars Community Report 2016-2017 | Page 30
Many children in our surrounding
neighborhoods face poverty and lack
of opportunity. Coming from a similar
background of not having much money
growing up, I can relate to a lot of the
kids that we work with who are facing
adversity. Through my role with the
Jaguars, I am fortunate enough to be
in a position to influence hundreds of
children in our youth football
community by opening them up to new
experiences and perspectives that they
may not have had otherwise. I believe
the first step in helping them to see
past adversity is to introduce them to
the possibilities around them.
In doing so, I use our players as mentors, give our
youth football athletes the chance to play on professional fields, give kids their first NFL game experience,
provide a variety of resources to kids and families in
need as well as share my story to serve as inspiration.
I didn’t have much growing up but the one thing I did
have was goals. I had a love for sports like most kids. I
played youth football, high school football, basketball
and track and then went on to play college basketball
at a community college for two years. I didn’t have the
ACT scores needed to attend a four year university, but
I didn’t let that stop me. I took that setback and used
it as motivation to push towards my dream of becoming
a professional athlete. Two years later I was recruited
by Bradley University as their power forward training
everyday to one day play in the NBA. Although I didn’t
make it into the NBA, I did become the first tight end
in the NFL to transition from another sport.
Through my dedication, I was sought out and asked to
try out for the Indianapolis Colts. A few weeks later,
I was playing under the best in the league, Peyton
Manning. Peyton was a true leader that made everyone
around him better. Today, I take his methods and apply
it to the youth football programs I run with the intention to make our youth better.