Central Michigan University graduate and all-star football player, Antonio Brown, didn’t have an easy life growing up in the mean streets of Miami.
Throughout the former Chippewa’s teen years, he was often temped with theft, drug use, and any other crime you could possibly think of. Although Antonio was faced with numerous challenges while growing up in the slums of Miami, his toughest task began when he was sixteen years old.
When Antonio’s divorced mother married a new man and left Antonio homeless, nobody could have imagined that one day he’d be an elite receiver in the NFL; except Antonio Brown.
While most would look at Antonio’s homelessness experience as a negative, he looks at it as an event in his life that shaped him into the person he is today.
Although Brown wasn’t the top of his class, he was eventually able to become academically eligible and would later become a CMU Chippewa. Although Brown began his collegiate football career as a walk on, it only took a few weeks for the program to offer him a scholarship, and begin the rest of Antonio’s career.
It didn’t take long for Brown to make an impression at the collegiate level, as he was named the MAC freshman of the year, MAC’s Special Teams player of the year for two consecutive years, and is currently the Chippewa’s all-time leader in receptions.
Antonio Brown represented the Chippewas in the 2010 NFL draft, and accomplished the goal that he had been dreaming about since he was in elementary school. Brown was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round, and made a great first impression to his new franchise and fans.
After being placed on the inactive list during the Steeler’s game opener, Brown was immediately put to the test when the Steelers took on the Tennessee Titans for their second game of the season.
As Titans fans packed their stadium, Antonio Brown walked onto the field for his first NFL play of his career. Not only was it Brown’s first NFL play, but it also became his first NFL touchdown when he returned the opening kickoff for an 89 yard touchdown.
The former homeless is now the now the second ranked player in MAC history for the most career receptions. Currently, Antonio Brown is representing his Alma Mater, Central Michigan University, week by week, by constantly exceeding his already high expectations in the NFL.
Antonio Brown is a prime example of what a will to succeed and self-confidence can do for the individual, and how the future is never restricted by the past.