Being Different--Josh Johnson's Smart Guy Story

Growing up in West Oakland, CA presents a lot of opportunity for young African American males. Opportunities such as--attachment to gangs and the violence associated with it, pimping and pandering, involvement with drugs, or meeting and building a relationship with law officials.  We are not talking about a buddy/buddy type relationship; it is more like the Duke Boys vs. Boss Hog and Roscoe P. Coltrane relationship.  So what can you do if you don’t want to continue in this cycle? Well for Smart Guy Josh Johnson, he made the conscious decision to devote and focuse his time and energy to other avenues. He did not let the pressure from his peers or his environments deter what he wanted to do with his life. He acted on some of the less known opportunities that Oakland had to offer but rarely gets recognition for providing. Josh  concentrated heavily on his family, school and sports to escape the negativity that surrounded him. As Johnson grew up he knew that he did not want to be like everyone else, he wanted to be different. He not only wanted to be a success on the football field, basketball court or track but he also wanted to succeed in the classroom and in life.

“I have always wanted to be a well-rounded person, to be a successful athlete as well as a successful student; I wanted to create different avenues for myself.” Johnson said. “As I was growing up, I would rather go to practice instead of hanging out. I would rather do my school work or stay in the house. Most of that stuff that was out there in the streets really didn’t mean anything. It was just something there for everybody to do but I didn’t want to do that.”  Johnson admits that growing up in the inner city can present a lot of barriers and challenges, simply because in that environment bad things that happens on a somewhat daily basis. But Josh also recognized that there were positive things that can come out of those situations as well.  “You can learn a lot of good values,” Johnson continued. “When you come from humble beginning you have many struggles. But when you struggle you get to find out more about the character of the people around you and also about yourself. You develop the will to fight, a trait that will carry you through a lot of other challenges on the road to becoming an adult.”

Many people have struggled with separation, the ability to be able to separate themselves from what they are used to and friends that they are used to being with who may not be on a positive path. Those things can truly affect your life in a negative way. Josh advises youth that may be struggling with this separation to have courage. If the people who you call your friends see the change in you then, it could help them to make a change in themselves as well. Don’t be afraid to be a leader; don’t be afraid to be the first one to break out of the norm. “One of the biggest challenges that you will face is being able to separate yourself from the negative things.” Johnson said. “The negative things are out there and they are easy to do. That is why everyone is doing it, because it is so easy. Not everyone wants to get involved with the harder things, due to all the work that has to be put in to becoming successful at it. That is just the world that we live in. I encourage young people to stay on the right path, that Smart Guy path. It is the right thing to do although it may be more difficult than the negative things. Look beyond the little things that you can get with the fast money because that will not last long. From my experiences the harder that I worked at something, the more I was able to benefit from it. You have to create that mentality for yourself because that winning/ hard working mentality will get you a long way.”

Josh’s mom Rosemary was a very big influence on his life and the decisions that he made. Rosemary was a single mother with four children who worked hard to provide for her family and limit some of the struggles that families had. “My mother did a great job with us,” Johnson said. “As a single parent with four children, she did everything she could to make sure we didn’t have to struggle. That let me know that there was no excuse for me not to do the right thing.”As for the much needed male guidance that young males search for, Johnson found it in his uncles and coaches he had while playing youth and in high school sports.  “My uncles were like a father figures for me,” Johnson recalled. “He showed me a lot of things from a male’s perspective. My high school coach did the same for me in the athletic realm. He did a lot for my teammates and I. I was able to learn a lot from him.”

Johnson views himself as a Smart Guy for overcoming the temptations that the streets of Oakland presented him. Josh is a graduate of Oakland Tech High School where he earned first team All City honors at quarterback and led his team to the Oakland Athletic League Championship. He is two classes away from graduating from the University of San Diego with a Bachelor degree in Mass Communications and where he was a four time All Conference (Pioneer Football League) (2004-07), twice earning PFL Offensive Player of the Year (2005-06), he was a four time I-AA All American (2004-07), and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award-given to the best player in division I-AA football (2007). Johnson is currently the backup quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a co-founder of Fam 1^st Family Foundation with cousin Marshawn Lynch.

    

Johnson and Lynch created this 501c3 non-profit foundation to give back to the young kids of Oakland. For the past four years the guys has hosted a free football camp for kids ages 6-18, at their alma mater Oakland Tech. To expand the Fam 1^st Family Foundation they incorporated the first annual Family 1^st bowling night last fall and have a family oriented weekend planned from July 8-9, 2011. The festivities will start Friday night July 8 from 6-9:00pm with the 1^st Family bowling and continue Saturday, July 9, with their annual football camp. The foundation also sponsors turkey drives during Thanksgiving and toy drives during Christmas. One of the major goals for the foundation is developing a youth center for the kids, a project that is in the planning stages now.

“We are excited to get this underway for the youths of Oakland.” Johnson said. “We are all about helping the inner city kids and showing them that there is more to life than what they see in the streets that they are growing up in. The opportunity is there for everybody, you just have to work hard for it, but trust me you will appreciate all that hard work you put into yourself and your future when you get older, because you will learn so much about the world."

A Family Smart Guy,

Josh

To find out more about Josh Johnson go to http://www.joshjohnson11.com/ . For more information regarding the  Fam 1^st Family Foundations contact Joanna Lopez at jvlopez13@gmail.com.

Embracing Second Chances--Davone Bess' Story

Everything that you do presents an opportunity to learn.  Take a moment to reflect back on your life and think to yourself; How did I get to the point to where I am today? Was there a defining moment that occurred in your life that you can remember and could that moment be the reason you're in this position today? For Davone Bess, age 25, his life experiences, particularly the harsh and painful ones, have given him opportunities to learn and grow into the man he is today. Bess is a prime example of perseverance, focus and optimism, and getting back up after you fall down. 

“I am one of the starting wide receivers in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins,” said Davone Bess. and it's something that I always wanted to do. I grew up playing football, baseball and basketball, and my goal, my dream was to always become a professional athlete.”  That dream of becoming a professional athlete became a reality when Bess was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Miami Dolphins in 2008, after a stellar college career at the University of Hawaii.  

During his three years in Hawaii, Bess put together excellent receiving numbers and quickly became quarterback Colt Brennan’s 'go to' receiver. As a freshman he caught 89 passes for 1,124 yards and 14 touchdowns and was named First team All Conference along with Conference Freshman of the Year. He improved on those numbers his sophomore year by catching 94 passes for 1,220 yards and 15 touchdowns earning First Team All Conference honors. In his final season in Hawaii Bess caught 108 passes for 1,266 yards and 12 touchdowns while gaining National attention the Associated Press named him to the All American Team along with his third consecutive First Team All conference honors.  

These stats and accolades gained by Bess are impressive. They become even more impressive if you go back into his life just a few years prior to his arrival to the Aloha State. Bess is a native of Oakland, CA and grew up with his mother and brother not very far from the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland Raiders. This part of Oakland is known for its negative reputation, and its ‘mean streets’. And like many other young men growing up in these communities, Bess’ living environment presented him with negative opportunities and obstacles.

“There were a whole lot of obstacles that I had to overcome. The first one was that my mom gave birth to me when she was 15 years old. She was a kid having a kid.” Bess explains. “She then had my brother at the age of 17. So here is this young African American woman with two kids by the age of 18. The odds of being successful were against us-- my mom not having an education, not really having the opportunity to go to college, living off of governmental assistance-- it was a set up for failure.” Bess was forced to meet these obstacles face to face on a daily basis as a child growing up. Instead of using those obstacles as a crutch or an excuse to fail, he decided to look in different ways to overcome the potential trap that many black males get caught in.

“I have always believed in a higher power and that God puts everybody in certain situations for a reason.” Bess said. “I have had a lot of people that were influential in my life. People that helped me overcome because I definitely could not have done it by myself. I reached out to people when I needed them and those people never failed me.”  To dodge some of the pressures of the streets, Bess focused his attention to sports and athletics. He attended and graduated from Skyline High School, where he was a star athlete in football, baseball and basketball. During his senior year he earned his first scholarship to Oregon State. However, his dreams of becoming an Oregon Beaver were soon shattered. Bess he lost his scholarship after allowing a 'friend' to put stolen items in his car. His bad choice earned him over a year and a half of incarceration at the  Byron Boys Ranch Juvenile Facility in Byron, California.

  

During his time in the juvenile facility, Bess played on a seven man flag football team created by the facility. He devoted his time to focusing on his future, listening to advice from his counselors, and trying to be a positive role model for his peers at Byron. Bess often sought advice from and share his dreams with probation counselor Glenn Woods. Woods reflects back on the time when Bess initially entered the facility.  “The first time I met Davone, I saw a very mature person,” Woods recalled. “He was down about his situation but after talking with him, he understood that he had to do the time and focus on getting out. He talked about wanting to get into a university and make better choices, when he was released from the facility. He got into a workout regime and he would go out there daily and give it his all. I used to tell him to slow down but he kept telling me that this was something that he had to do. He would get up early to go and workout for two to three hours a day--he was extremely focused.”
 

During his incarceration, Bess would also realize his desire to help others. The younger kids preferred to come to him for advice before going to their counselors. He was viewed by all as a positive influence on the younger guys.  “A lot of the Wards would go outside when they saw Davone and wanted to do what he was doing. He was a very good leader and would always offer positive advice to other kids.” Woods said. “At times, when the kids doing inappropriate things, I would go to Davone and have him talk to them. He talked to the kids when they were upset and knew how to calm them down. He was very positive, focused and routinely displayed great leadership qualities. It was amazing to see some of the stuff that he would do and how advanced he was. I always told him that he was going to make it and to keep his head up. It was no surprise when he got released when I seen that he going to Hawaii. He was a sharp kid.”

 This advice that he gave to these young kids still remains in the heart and mind of Bess. He continues to impact the lives of young people and people who may be in a bad place. His background and experiences allows for him to relate to many people on many different levels. He advises everyone to stick to their dreams and have faith in God.  “When you are a teenager peer pressure is really big,” Bess explained. “Making that transition from middle to high school is really hard as far as picking and choosing your friends.”  “Stick to your dreams and surround yourself around positive people that want to be productive in society, friends who want to go to college that want to do positive things with their life even if society has told them that they can’t do it.” Bess continues. “I believe in having a vision. When I was incarcerated and spent all that time in a juvenile detention facility away from my family, away from my friends, that gave me an opportunity to better myself not only as an athlete but as a human being. That was God sitting me down and asking me ‘young man what do want to do with yourself, what you want to do with your life?’ He had given me these talents and tools and I was wasting them."

Reaching out to mentors is something that is now very important to Bess. But not only reaching out, but listening to what they have to say. Smart guys are the ones that know how to take advice as well as give it.  “I think what makes me a 'smart guy' is with all the knowledge and game that I have soaked up in all the situations that I have been dealing with, I learned how to take those experiences and knowledge and run with it.” said Bess. “There are a lot of guys that experience a lot of things but don’t learn from their mistakes. I am a guy that not only learned from my mistakes but I learned from other people’s mistakes as well. I feel like a sponge, anytime I get a chance to listen to my elders, OGs, professors, people that have been in marriages over 50 plus years, I pay attention because they have nothing but game, nothing but knowledge that they want to give and I just continue to soak it up. I know that God put me in those situations and so that I could affect the lives of other people, so that is what I am all about now.”

Positively affecting lives drives Bess to continue on this path. Bess is currently putting together an All Star Basketball Jam to be held at Laney College in Oakland, CA on April 9, 2011 starting at 1:00 pm. This is the first Annual D. Bess All Star Basketball Jam. It is being put on to help raise money for the Oakland Athletic School League which is in the process of forfeiting all of its sports and after school programs due to lack of resources. “It’s looking really bad, obviously because of the recession and the economy the school district can’t afford to pay the teachers and the coaches the extra money to stay after hours with these kids.” Bess states. “As I think back to my high school experience,  if this would have happened when I was in high school and I couldn’t play sports  because of the economy, I wouldn’t be in the NFL today." 

Some of the All Stars that will be participating in the game on April 9th are Ronnie Brown, Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline, Greg Camarillo and Paul Soliai of the Miami Dolphins, Ted Gin of the San Francisco 49ers, Dennis Dixon of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks, Josh Johnson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,Gerris Wilkerson of the New York Giants, Frank Summers of the San Diego Chargers and others, including his manager Christopher Kidawski.

“This is my way of showing my appreciation for what I did have in high school. You never realize how good something was until it is gone. It would be so unfortunate if these kids lose their sports programs, everyone knows how rough it is in the streets of Oakland with the drugs, gangs and violence. Imagine how much the crime rate would go up if there were kids not being active in sports."

Bess plans on making a difference at home and worldwide. Bess is currently scheduled to go to Costa Rica to help kids to get adequate facilities for their schools and sports programs.  Bess surprised Fennville High School in Michigan earlier this month by sending his autographed game jersey as a token of his appreciation to the school for a raffle item to raise money for Wes Leonard, who collapsed and died on the basketball court after hitting the game winning shot due to an enlarged heart.
 

Bess often reflects on his life and about how he got to where he is, and who he has become. He has become a genuine Smart Guy, despite a bumpy road to get there.  “I think if it wasn’t for me going through all that I did, if it wasn’t for me going through those hard times and overcoming those obstacles and failures, I wouldn’t be the man that I am today.”  Bess is looking forward to sharing the 'Smart Guy' philosophy with other young people in order to help them avoid some of the pitfalls that he has encountered in his life and will continue to use his life lessons to make a difference.

A Determined 'Smart Guy',

Davone

For more information about Davone Bess and D.Bess Route Foundation please friend him on facebook at www.facebook.com/dbessroute  or follow him on twitter at officialdb15. 

Making My Dad Proud: former Steeler Chidi Iwuoma's Road to Success

My father never wanted me to play football or any sports for that matter.  He thought that pro athletes got into a lot of trouble and he and my mother had great plans for my brothers and I that were centered around education and achieving the American dream. Little did he know when I was little, that football would help create the opportunities for me to acquire the academic success he dreamed of for me and give me a chance to positively impact others...

My parents were immigrants from Nigeria, they came to America dreaming of better opportunities for my three brothers and I.  Education was a high priority in my household and seen as the cornerstone for success.  What my parents saw of athletics in the media, set up a belief that sports led to negativity and got in the way of the success they planned for us.  So in addition to the focus on academics, my parents established a steadfast rule for the four of us: no sports.  

 When I was young I lost mother to inner city violence.  My parents were trying to live the  America dream, they worked hard and become business owners. On that tragic day, my mother was working in one of the family stores and was murdered during a robbery attempt. When my mom was killed during that robbery, my dad took it very hard.  In retrospect I can't image what a challenge it was for my dad to deal with grieving and raising four boys at the same time. We grew up in a rough environment, a lot of temptation for the way of life promoted by gangs in the community and easy access to a lot of negativity.  My father stuck to his plan; education was good, sports were bad.  His plan to keep us out of the streets was anchored by a strong focusing on education. 

Despite my dad's views on athletics, I knew there were positive aspects. I would watch the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Lakers, and I saw good things.  My brothers and I loved to play sports out in the neighborhood with our friends and our dad was okay with these casual, home based games. But even when I began to get noticed in school for my athletic abilities, but my dad wouldn’t let me play organized sports. When I was in elementary school, my brothers took me and signed me up for Pop Warner football.  I was so excited and loved the tryouts and proudly took my pads home after making the team.  My dad took one look at the pads and said no way, take them back. So I focused on school and community and build a reputation as a stand up guy.  I was involved in student government and lots of school based activities, but continued to dream of playing organized team sports. 

My freshman year  of high school I tried out for football and my coach was really impressed with me.  I came up with plan where I went to study hall and got school work done during the day and then went to practice after school for part of the practice and still got home before 4pm.  I got a recruiting letter from Cal Berkeley and was on the varsity squad by the end of my freshman season.  I kept my participation a secret from dad my entire freshman year and halfway through my sophmore year.  The local newspaper did a story about me and put my picture in the paper after a particularly good game which someone showed my dad, causing all hell to break loose. 

The letter from Cal Berkeley turned out to be my saving grace, I showed it to my dad and pointed out the opportunity to get a free education through my abilities on the football field.  Dad finally said if I kept my grades up I could play.  Recruiting letters kept coming in.  I knew I had to keep my grades up in order to play and that was my focus all through high school. I knew I wanted to graduate, get a college degree and make my dad proud.  My senior year I got a bunch of scholarship offers, I was so excited that people were going to pay for me to go to school because I could run with the football.  I could combine my love of the game with my love of education, I couldn't ask for anything more.  I graduated from Pasadena High school and entered the University of California at Berkeley, my dad's favorite school, on a football scholarship.   

My brothers, who were all older than me, didn't get to play sports because of my dad’s beliefs about professional athletes.  But they never begrudged me my experience and my success.  They came to all of my games and made sure I had everything I needed.  They would use their money from their part time jobs to buy me cleats and they would get me wherever I needed to go.  They couldn’t do it but I could and they became my biggest fans.  Their dedication and support of me made me feel important and made a huge impact in the man I've become.

I wanted to graduate from Cal with a degree, that was my main drive from the moment I stepped onto campus. I was good in high school, but coming to one of the top programs in the nation at one of the best schools in the nation, was a whole new game. I had to fall back on my cornerstone, education. I kept trying and studying and working hard academically.  I worked with my academic advisor regularly and studied hard to be a good player and teammate.  It wasn’t until my junior year at Cal that the NFL made it onto my radar as a possible reality.  I got my degree in five years and during that time I decided that I wanted to help student athletes as a career.  My academic advisors my first year was really important and helpful to me and I wanted to become that support for other student athletes wheither or not I went pro. 

I played in the NFL for seven years.  I knew that I was physically able to be there but being mature and being a good person who was goal oriented and wanted to handle business was an important component to staying there.  I was nominated team captain four years in a row.  Besides the obvious money and accolades, that honor by my peers was special to me.  To be voted team captain and not be the superstar comes down to being accountable, guys acknowledge that I would take care of business and lead by example and carry through on goals for the team.  The experience of playing pro football was exciting and fun but it is a business. You are expected to take care of yourself and handle your business of your own accord.  You have to figure out what is expected of you and how you get it done.  My childhood, the goals and expectations my parents and brothers put in place,  were my stepping stones to success.

I am participating in the 'Smart Guy' movement because I want to help young people realize that your last name is important and that you are representing generations of your last name in the way you carry and present yourself. No matter how old you are you are never too young to be a good person.  Becoming a 'smart guy' when you are young is setting yourself up to be successful for the majority of your life.

I've had a pretty good run and it all started with being serious about academics. I played in the NFL for seven years, including five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the opportunity to be a part of the 2005 Super Bowl championship team!  After I retired from the NFL, I returned to Cal and got a master's degree in education.  I currently work as the Assistant Director of Student Athlete Development for Cal Berkeley's football program. My responsibilities are to nurture student development and support them in dealing with classroom, academics, housing-- anything that student athletes need outside of x’s and o’s.  It is what I've wanted to do since my freshman year of Cal,  help guide young, bright minds on what could possibly be their future endeavors.  I’ve been there and done that and that gives me credibility.  I work with all the athletes on a backup plan.  What kind of impression have you left on people that they  would want to do business with you after you graduate?  After you retire?  What kind of person are you?

 I've had the opportunity to show my father that education can lead to success in whatever venue you apply it to, even sports.  I've had the opportunity to carry myself both on and off the field as someone that other's can be proud of and emulate.  And now I have the opportunity to guide young student athletes about making good choices and putting their education to good use, about being 'smart guys'...

Another Smart Guy,

Chidi