Davis Russell
Las Vegas 7’s
October 17, 2016
From The Special Olympics to the NFL: The Childhood of Jamaal Charles
As representatives of one of the most popular entities on earth, NFL players experience widespread exposure everywhere they go. As one of the NFL’s most popular players, Jamaal Charles has certainly enjoyed his share of the spoils.
Since his freshman season with the Texas Longhorns in 2005, Charles has won a plethora of awards and honors; including three All-Pro honors (2x first team: 2010, 2013), two Pro Bowl appearances, two All-Big 12 honors, and several others (NFL.com). Most notably, Charles possesses the NFL’s all-time lead in career yards per carry amongst running backs, with an average of five and a half yards.
But despite his innumerable successes, Jamaal Charles relishes in his struggles, citing their assistance in forming the man that stands before us today. Before he showed potential as a world-class sprinter at Texas, went on to lead the Chiefs in career rushing yards, and earned himself over $30 million and counting, Charles had to get through childhood just like everyone else.
As a kid in Port Arthur, Texas, Charles grew up without a father in one of the most poverty stricken communities in all of Texas. Those who grew up with him were quoted in saying that in the ways he moved, thought, or spoke aloud, Charles was always in a hurry. Grant Lapoint, one of Charles’s childhood mentors, said Charles always seemed to always be on the run from something; whether that was his community’s state of perpetual and severe poverty, or his own struggles with anxiety and various learning disabilities.
Charles grew up as the runt of his family with four older brothers and thirty-two older cousins, which led him to gravitate towards the maternal figures in his life for support, and drew constant teasing from his peers. This cycle of self-doubt further manifested itself in school, where Charles struggled with reading and public speaking. One of his teachers went on to say that he was afraid to even raise his hand to speak, knowing that people would tease him. It got even worse when Charles was sent into what he calls “certain classes”.
Ironically enough, it was one of these classes that led Charles into the man he is today. Where many of Charles’s classmates enjoyed field trips at amusement parks and aquariums, Charles and the fellow special needs students went somewhere else entirely: The Special Olympics. On his first day of competition, Charles won the 100 and 200-meter dashes, the hurdles, and the long jump. He later said, “People made fun of me. They said I would never go anywhere. But on that day, I learned I could fly…When I competed in The Special Olympics, I found out just how fast I was…and when I found out just how fast I was, I was blessed with a new confidence. That confidence turned to courage, the courage to be the best that I can be every day”.
That combination of confidence and athletic prowess led Charles to new heights on the gridiron and track. After enjoying a high school career in which he earned first-team all-state honors in both football and track, Charles was ready to take on collegiate athletics at Texas. While he initially struggled in football because of his propensity for fumbles, Charles was unstoppable on the track; winning the 100-meter sprint at the Big-12 conference championship and placing inside the top five in multiple NCAA championship events.
He eventually decided to drop track in the interest of putting on weight for football, a decision that clearly worked out for him. The rest as they say, is history. Charles rushed for over 1,400 yards in his 2007 junior season by utilizing his tremendous speed and open-field elusiveness. He chose to forgo his senior season to enter the 2008 NFL Draft, where he was picked in the third round by the Kansas City Chiefs to kick start a spectacular NFL career.
Fortunately, Charles still remembers his early struggles, and hopes to assist others who deal with the same issues. He has started the Jamaal Charles “Youth Matters” Family Foundation, an organization that is run by both Charles and the mentors from his troubled childhood. He also spoke at the Special Olympics World Games in 2015 in an attempt to give back to the organization that gave him everything (video below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlDsGH5nKFo
Ultimately, the world will remember Jamaal Charles for his accomplishments as a football player, but his friends, family, and dedicated fans will appreciate his other legacy: the constant care and assistance dedicated to the disabled children all across America.
