I realize this may have been posted before (I did a search and didn't see anything; credit to my friend pop-o-pies for posting this on FB), as it's from September, but I don't recall seeing it and there are worse things than reposting an article by and about one of our greatest players ever, at RU, and surely one of our best ambassadors for Rutgers Football and Rutgers University. This man has a future beyond football. Here's an excerpt:
Looking back, it would’ve been so easy for me to go the other way when I was growing up in New Brunswick. And the neighborhoods there are only getting tougher. Once I made it to the NFL, I really started to think about how I could give back. I had put in a lot of hard work to play pro football, but I knew there was a whole crew of people who had helped me get to the NFL.
My mom and my sister. Coach Jackson. Coach Susan. My uncle and his tapes of Sweetness.
So last year, in partnership with the Embrace the Kids Foundation, I created the Sanu’s Crew football camp for kids in the New Brunswick area. There hadn’t been any camps I could go to when I was a kid — not that I would have been able to afford one if there had been. So I want to give these kids an opportunity I didn’t have. We charged $25 that first year, but I know how hard it can be to pull even that much money together. So this past summer, for the camp’s second year, we made it free for all campers.
If Coach Jackson hadn’t given me the chance to play football, who knows what would’ve happened to me. And if Coach Susan hadn’t called to tell me how hard I needed to work, who knows where I’d be.
So I try to do both for the Sanu’s Crew campers. Sure, they ask me about how much money I make, or who’s the toughest DB I’ve ever faced, but at the end of camp, we also talk about dedication. I tell the campers that it doesn’t have to be football that you choose to be great at. You can be great doctor, a great lawyer, a great fireman. When you find something that you want to be, dedicate yourself to it.
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/mo...m_medium=kw&utm_campaign=NonBran&kwp_0=233368
Looking back, it would’ve been so easy for me to go the other way when I was growing up in New Brunswick. And the neighborhoods there are only getting tougher. Once I made it to the NFL, I really started to think about how I could give back. I had put in a lot of hard work to play pro football, but I knew there was a whole crew of people who had helped me get to the NFL.
My mom and my sister. Coach Jackson. Coach Susan. My uncle and his tapes of Sweetness.
So last year, in partnership with the Embrace the Kids Foundation, I created the Sanu’s Crew football camp for kids in the New Brunswick area. There hadn’t been any camps I could go to when I was a kid — not that I would have been able to afford one if there had been. So I want to give these kids an opportunity I didn’t have. We charged $25 that first year, but I know how hard it can be to pull even that much money together. So this past summer, for the camp’s second year, we made it free for all campers.
If Coach Jackson hadn’t given me the chance to play football, who knows what would’ve happened to me. And if Coach Susan hadn’t called to tell me how hard I needed to work, who knows where I’d be.
So I try to do both for the Sanu’s Crew campers. Sure, they ask me about how much money I make, or who’s the toughest DB I’ve ever faced, but at the end of camp, we also talk about dedication. I tell the campers that it doesn’t have to be football that you choose to be great at. You can be great doctor, a great lawyer, a great fireman. When you find something that you want to be, dedicate yourself to it.
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/mo...m_medium=kw&utm_campaign=NonBran&kwp_0=233368
