Ex-NFL player Grant to students: Choose success

By Harold Gwin

The real success in life lies in helping others, the former NFL player said.

YOUNGSTOWN — Steve Grant said he dreamed of playing football in the National Football League when he was just a 7-year-old growing up poor in Florida.

Fourteen years later, that dream came true when he was drafted as a linebacker by the Indianapolis Colts after a successful college career at West Virginia University.

But the dream didn’t come true all by itself. It took his own personal efforts to overcome the obstacles he encountered and perseverance to make the dream become reality, Grant told an audience of about 60 high school students Thursday at Summit Academy on Oak Hill Avenue, a charter school for alternative learners on the city’s South Side.

Grant, who played from 1992 through 1998 (first with the Colts and then with Tampa Bay Buccaneers), said his nickname was “The Preacher Man.” His appearance at Summit Academy was arranged by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and he estimated that he’s spoken to more than 300,000 kids, offering inspirational and supportive messages.

He said young people need to have three areas for success: imagination, overcome obstacles and perseverance.

“Dare to dream a dream, but a dream without action is a nightmare — wasted potential,” he said.

Every person can make their dream happen, he said, adding, “The only person who can stop you is you. Don’t be a ‘could-have-been.’”

He advised the students to take advantage of their education, explaining, “What you do today will determine the quality of living for you tomorrow.”

Grant said the four main obstacles facing young people today are sex, drugs, alcohol and relationships.

“It does matter who you hang out with. If you want to know who you are and where you’re going, just look at who you hang out with,” he advised.

Everyone faces obstacles, but, “Never let the legitimate excuses in your life keep you from being great,” he said.

He had his own issues to overcome, Grant said, noting that he was a C and D pupil in the seventh grade but was able to turn that around, believe in his dream and persevere, earning an arts and sciences degree from WVU in just three and one-half years.

But there was still something missing, Grant said.

He was a junior in college and had everything going his way. He had money, a car and women, and he knew he was headed for the NFL, but he wasn’t happy.

His attitude and his life changed when he was invited to a Bible study group and shortly after accepted Jesus Christ as his saviour, he said.

“The real success in life is being able to reproduce that good part of you that helps someone else realize their success. It’s not about you, it’s about the person sitting beside you,” he told his audience.

What people make of their lives is up to them, Grant said.

“You’re not born a winner. You’re not born a loser. You’re born a chooser,” he said.

gwin@vindy.com