Richard Sherman tells kids in Compton: Stand up for yourself
Richard Sherman was back in Compton to speak with students about three major steps. Take education seriously, set goals, and stand up for yourself.
Richard Sherman published this today on The Players’ Tribune, and it’s a powerful piece.
Sherman was joined on the panel by Olympic Gold Medalist Carmelita Jeter, former NFL All-Pro Marcellus Wiley, and former NBA All-Star Baron Davis. All four grew up in the Compton area. All four had great advice for these kids.
Richard Sherman kicked it off
"“Understand that anything is possible, no matter where you come from. Obviously, I came from the same area ya’ll came from. Their stories are very similar. They’ve all come from the city and been successful. So you understand that, it don’t matter where you start, you could be successful.”"
Carmelita Jeter spoke on setting goals
"“One thing I did was, I set goals. I wrote things down of what I wanted to do. I wanted to go to college…wanted to be in the Olympics. Once you set goals you just accomplish them and you smash them. You can do anything you set your mind to.”"
Baron Davis talked about dreams and opportunity
"“We have every opportunity to believe and dream and be who we want to be. It’s hard, but it ain’t hard if you do the right thing, because the right people will be there along the way to make sure you get to where you want to.”"
Richard Sherman spoke about the challenges of the city
"“Just the area itself is a challenge. There’s everything from drug abuse. gang violence. It’s difficult to understand if you’re not from the city, but the adversity that you deal with on a daily basis is like no other place.”"
And Sherman gave the kids a lecture on the power of the nerd.
"“When you go to school sometimes, you want to be the class clown. You want to make everybody laugh. That’s all cool and dandy, until you don’t have a job when you get older. Cool guys from my school are still in Compton. And I’m the nerd. I’m a square. I’m the dude who sat there and did his work. Who went to class everyday, that they were making fun of. Now they watch me on TV, and they still at their house with their moms. That’s not where you want to be.”"
Note to self: work in the phrase “all cool and dandy” into every conversation possible.
Marcellus Wiley on giving attention to the right path
"“I’ll give you something that helped me grow up and stay focused. Someone said that, “Attention is invention.” And I’m sitting there like, ‘it rhymes’, but what does it mean? And they said, “Anything you want to create, you have to give it attention.” What do you value? Because that’s what you’re going to accomplish. So if you value your friends and hangin’ and chillin’ so much, guess what you’re gonna end up doin’?”"
Baron Davis has a pretty funny response to this. For that and much more, watch the video. It’s just under six minutes long, after all. You won’t want to miss the inspiring end, trust me.
Sherman has proven time and again that he is determined to have an even bigger impact in this world off the field than on it. It’s a terrific message for kids. Stand up for your goals, for your ambitions, and for yourself. If Sherman was just battling to make the squad as a special teams player instead of a perennial All-Pro, he’d still be a tremendous asset to the Seahawks.
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