For Cleveland Browns safety Mike Adams and Arizona Cardinals middle linebacker Gerald Hayes, growing up in Patterson, NJ was a difficult time. But through friendship and football, they now are in a place to make a difference in that same community.
"Just the way I've grown up and the things I've been through, I just want to show kids it's a different life," said Adams. I want to show kids they can do whatever they want, even with all the intangibles, the people around them, the negative environment, they can still do what they want, through sports, writing, art, music, teaching - - anything."
Now entering their fifth and sixth years in the NFL respectively, they are in a position to show inner-city youth that there is a way out, and that football can be a big part of that. Together, they hope to leave their mark on their hometown. On Friday, June 20, the duo's "Rising Star Foundation" will get the ball rolling with a celebrity bowling fundraiser to benefit at-risk youth.
"It's a natural feeling to start this coming from where we come from. We want to help the young kids to be successful," said Hayes. "When you carry a blessing, you share it with who you can."
The next day, Adams and Hayes will host their second annual Youth Football Camp at Passaic Tech High School football field. The camp, in addition to teaching solid football fundamentals and techniques, will also instill many of the values needed to succeed both on-and-off the football field, such as nutrition, sportsmanship, self-esteem and teamwork.
"Respect your teamwork," said Adams of the thing he most wants each kid to take from the camp. "Respect the person that they're playing with. Teamwork, playing together and chemistry. It could be a kid from the other side of Patterson, but we'll make it so that they have to play together, so that they form the bonds of teamwork."
The two-day event is only the beginning of something greater, according to Adams.
"Our ultimate goal is a community center - - a place to play basketball, go in the pool, get tutored, go on the computer. We want a place to keep kids busy and off the streets."
Hayes also has bigger plans for the foundation.
"Start it in Patterson and eventually spread it out. Mentor help, scholarships, sponsor a youth football team, hopefully that transcends into other things. Empower the inner city families and help them make better decisions," said Hayes.
Adams and Hayes forged a friendship some 13-plus years ago. That friendship is stronger than ever today.
"That bond we have, it's just a brotherly bond, because he never had a brother. It's just a thing we got, it's a family thing," said Adams. "There's nothing that I don't know about him and nothing he doesn't know about me."
If Adams and Hayes can change just one kid's life with their "Rising Stars Foundation", the duo would come full-circle.
"As a kid, you look up to your coaches. When that family member is not there, without a father or mother, that coach is that father figure. Show them what's right from wrong. Being that forefront person in their life, it means a lot," said Hayes. My coaches were there when I needed them. You learn your basic structure in your life - - you have to be dedicated, listen, follow instructions - - that transfers over into life. Football to me transitioned over to life. You go though adversity in life and football. You learn how to be a winner and how to lose. Being in the inner city, that's the way to channel your energy into something positive."
Adams echoes Hayes' sentiment.
"The competition just got better and it drove me because, technically no one knows this but I started to quit in high school. I wasn't in a game and the coach didn't play me the whole game and I said ‘I'm not playing no more, I quit' "I went to a different neighborhood. My coach came and snatched me out and I knew that he cared and he was telling me things would get better, I had to wait my turn, this and that. I saw my picture in the paper and that's what motivated me from there on out. That's what I wanted right there. The next two weeks I had a picture in the paper catching a pass in the end zone and I knew that's what I wanted to do. That was very influential on me."
Hopefully Adams and Hayes can do for some kid what their coaches did for them.
