‘“I remember growing up, how much it meant to me to talk to athletes. I was in middle school and the Millard West starting quarterback, he was everything, and there was a D-lineman there who probably never even went on to play in college, but I just thought the world of him,” recalled the Omaha, Nebraska native. “I just hoped that when I got to that platform, those kids were doing the same thing I was doing. Anytime I can go back and tell them the same message they’ve been hearing somebody else, maybe they’d be more willing to listen because of who it came from.”’