Whatever it took to reach them, she supposed.
“I didn’t grow up in poverty, or in foster care, or homeless, or in any of the situations I know many of you have faced. I know a lot of you are sports fans, so you know my family name. You know who my father is, who my brothers are, and where I come from. I had it easy growing up. I got to go to great schools and an amazing college here in Florida. But I’ve known a lot of my brothers on the team who did grow up like you. And I learned a lot of my work ethic from them, as well as from my father, who did come from poverty. And he taught all of his sons to never take anything for granted. That it’s not just all about sports and money and how to make a quick buck. It’s about what’s in your head as much as it is what’s on the playing field.
“He taught all of us to pay attention, to learn, that using your head to get ahead is what’s most important. Does that make sense to any of you?”
He got a lot of nods.
“Look, I know it may seem easy to steal, or to want to use your bodies or your hands and feet in whatever way you can to make money. But it’s a temporary thing. If you want to be successful in life, the best way to do that is to use your brain. It’ll last a lot longer than your body will.”
“But that’s not what you did, is it?”
Harmony tracked the voice, someone on the far top tier of the bleachers.
Instead of calling out whoever said it, Barrett said, “You mean because I chose football as a career?”
There were a lot of nods and yeahs from the crowd.
“I can see why you’d think that. But if you look at my background, you’d also know that I graduated college with a 4.0 GPA. I graduated, unlike a lot of athletes, whose only desire in college is to see how fast they can get drafted into their professional sport. My degree is in political science. I know that my body will only last so long on the football field. I’ve known a lot of rookies who got injured their first or second years. Career-ending injuries, and all their dreams died on the football field. I’m smarter than that. I’m investing my earnings and I have a plan for my post-football career.
“It’s important to think beyond who you are today to what you can do with your life. You maybe started out your lives with disadvantages, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay down. You aren’t a product of your past any more than I am. I had a great upbringing and many advantages. So did a lot of athletes. I’ve seen a lot of those athletes piss away those advantages on drugs, bad investments and bad decisions. Bad decisions can cost you your future. You’re at the crossroads of your future right now. You’re in charge of your lives right here. Today. Good choices and smart thinking can turn your lives around. All you have to do is make smart decisions. No one can live your life for you or make those decisions for you.”
Harmony was so impressed. Barrett was doing an amazing job, letting these kids know that their futures were in their own hands, that they could do anything if they wanted to.
“He’s very good at this,” Lachelle whispered to her.
“Yes, he is.”
“You’d be surprised how many athletes come in here and talk smack to these kids about sports, and how they need to be physically fit and get out there and play ball and it’s all bs,” Lachelle said. “That’s not what they need to hear. They need to hear exactly what Barrett is telling them. To use their minds, to think about their futures.”
Lachelle was right. Harmony had been surrounded by plenty of troubled kids growing up. She wished some of them had heard Barrett’s speech. It might have saved a few from walking the wrong path.
Then again, she also believed in choice. And some of them were going to make the wrong choice no matter what.
Barrett took questions and there were a lot of them. He handled them all perfectly, and Lachelle stepped in and helped when Barrett didn’t know the answers. Then he surprised all of them with tickets to one of the Hawks preseason games for them and their families. Everyone excitedly cheered.
It took Lachelle a while to get them settled down, especially since Barrett insisted on spending time chatting one-on-one with any of the kids who wanted to, which was quite a few of them.
But eventually Lachelle insisted it was time for the kids to go back to class, and Barrett reminded them to engage their brains. They all waved good-bye to him on their way out of the gym.
“I can’t tell you how much what you said will stick with some of these kids,” Lachelle said.
“I wish it would stick with all of them.”
Lachelle laid her hand on Barrett’s forearm. “You can’t save them all, Barrett. If you reach only a handful of them, it’ll be enough. Trust me.”
“Have you got a few minutes?” Lachelle asked Harmony. “I have a meeting in about a half hour, but I’ve got new pictures of the boys.”
“I wouldn’t miss seeing those. Providing Barrett has time.”
His lips curved. “I have time.”