Vonta Leach

Edgerrin James says that he used his first NFL signing bonus to buy two rundown buildings in a drug-affected neighborhood in his hometown and turn them into a recreational center for local kids “I mean, it’s appropriate. You know, them things you’re supposed to do. That’s your way of really giving back and helping and showing. You can help a lot of people by making one move. One move can change the structure of so many other kids. Like right now, from Immokalee, we got four guys that’s in the NFL right now, and those same four guys used to come to that same building that we opened up and that we had around. And it was actually pretty cool to actually see that, you know, they were a part of it.” “Exactly. And that’s what it’s about. You’re showing them that it’s possible, and that’s part of my whole MO, man. Like, look, I’m going to come across as normal, and I’m going to do all the same things y’all do. So I’m showing you that it’s possible. Right now, you got to dig into it a little bit more to say, ‘Okay, what separated me from them?’ And that’s when that discipline and that hard work and really knowing what it’s going to take, or doing what it’s going to take, to get there.” “Yeah, you got D.J. Swearinger, you got Mackensie Alexander, you got D’Ernest Johnson that played for the Cleveland Browns, and then you got the Pro Bowler, J.C., that played for the New England Patriots. You know, all four of those kids, they used to be around. They’re all out of Immokalee, and that’s what it’s about. To have kids that’s in the community that actually see you do what you do, and they follow in those footsteps.” “I got a million names from them. They actually make you feel old. Like, they really the ones that make you feel old. And then you go back, you go through some of the pictures, and you see the kids out there doing what they were doing. Like, dang, I’ve really been around a long time. And to see J.C. go to the Pro Bowl, you’re like, man, I watched this kid from birth. But it’s a good feeling to know that you got people coming from your area that you inspired.”