“I was one of those kids that I didn’t ever think I’d ever be able to go to college, because I didn’t think that, academic-wise, that I was smart enough, or could keep up with the other students. It was all kind of different things I had in my mind, but when I set my mind to it, I had a strong supporting cast that I had from family members. It pushed me to be to the, you know, the man that I am today.”

 

“I’m from Houston, Texas, uh, south side, southwest area of low-income families. A young man I used to hang out with, he said I wasn’t going to go to college, I was going to be a junkie, drop out of…type of things. And I wanted to do something different. I had to go to night school again, take ninth-grade classes over, ‘cause I wasn’t focused on my books like I should have been. And it taught me a, a huge lesson, so when I got to Texas, I was on academic honor roll.”

 

“And my mom, my grandmother, my sisters – my family played a major part in my everyday life, because I knew that, how much, you know, love they had for me – how bad they wanted to see me succeed. I’m getting a degree in education – something I love to do. I left school early, to enter the NFL. I wanted to go back to finish: not only for myself, I wanted to make my mom proud – as well as um, something my son and my, my kids can look up to.”

 

“I’ve gave a lot of smiles – from Rose Bowl to NFL, to popping up at a charity event. What’s going to make, uh, a huge smile on my face is to finish in a year, to walk across the stage in May, throw my hat, to wear my gown, to get my degree. At one of the biggest graduations of all time.”

 

“You have to read, you have to research, you have to plan. You have to pick those goals, those levels that you want to accomplish. I know sometimes it get hard. But that’s what it’s always been about, growing up, and taking it, um, that challenge on: and, and when you feel like you’re alone, um, that’s when you can go to Generation Texas and, and I challenge you – to take dead aim at all these opportunities that you have. It’s a bigger picture when you finish. And you’ll be happy, and you’ll make your family and your parents happy. And me, I’d definitely be happy for you. Join Generation Texas at gentx.org.”