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Started By
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Homeless high school student signs to play D2 football
Posted on 2/3/21 at 6:07 pm
Posted on 2/3/21 at 6:07 pm
LINK
quote:
He's homeless and works from 3-7 a.m. to make ends meet. Now he's signed to play college football.
quote:
Fort Worth Arlington Heights' Leslie Adindu was homeless and never played in a varsity game. Thanks to his perseverance and dedication, Adindu signed with Southwest Baptist University on Wednesday during National Signing Day.
quote:
A family dispute culminating in his father’s move to New Orleans left Adindu without a place to live in Fort Worth.
The 19-year-old found himself living in a shelter.
quote:
Young found out that because Adindu was a legal adult at 19 years old, he had to hold a job to keep his place in the shelter. When Young heard Adindu’s work schedule was 3-7, his heart sank because he thought it would conflict with school and practice time.
“Leslie said three to seven and I thought, ‘Oh man you can’t make practice.’ But he quickly corrected me and said, ‘No Coach, 3-7 a.m. I work and then I’ll come to school.’”
Wait, what?
Young was floored. That type of perseverance was to be rewarded by crushing opposing offenses on Friday nights with the rest of his teammates. There was just one issue: Adindu was two and a half weeks too old to play UIL football. He filed for an over-age waiver, which was denied.
“My heart broke,” Young said. “I thought football would help Leslie’s chances of getting out of his situation. But after a few minutes I realized just because he couldn’t play games didn’t mean we couldn’t help him.”
quote:
“I told Leslie if he came to school everyday and showed up at practice and worked out, we’d play him in our scrimmages to get a little tape out there, we’d bug every college coach in the country at every school we could until we found someone who’d give him a shot,” Young said.
Adindu held up his end of the bargain. He showed up on time to school each and every day, coming to practice and working as hard as the rest of the team despite not having a game to look forward to on Friday night.
“For Leslie to do that, just shows what kind of heart he has,” Young said. “There aren’t a lot of kids who would keep showing up and working after being told they were ineligible. For him to do that, made us work even harder to find him a spot.”
Young went to work. He had the coaching contacts; he just needed a program to see the upside that Adindu presented.
Enter Southwest Baptist University, a Division II school in Bolivar, Missouri.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 6:16 pm to HeLeakin
That’s a great story, I hope the kids exceeds in college.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 6:18 pm to HeLeakin
Good for him. Always remember someone out there is struggling more than yourself. Best wishes to him.
OT response- he has the makings of a varsity criminal with that last name.
OT response- he has the makings of a varsity criminal with that last name.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 6:25 pm to HeLeakin
We compete against their track team a lot and I know a lot of kids that run for them. That schools the real deal when it comes to practicing what you preach as far as I can tell. Awesome story
Posted on 2/3/21 at 7:15 pm to HeLeakin
Other than money, there’s not much that football can give this kid...he’s already got discipline, work ethic, determination, and tenacity. All at just 19 years old.
Great story and I hope he finds tremendous success on and off the field.
Great story and I hope he finds tremendous success on and off the field.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 7:16 pm to Pedro
My son had his first day of track practice ever today. He thought this was going to be easy, compared to football and soccer, and all he could say after practice was “my head hurts”. Not going to be easy.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 7:23 pm to Gaston
What event group is he in? Just encourage him. It gets easier.
I was a distance guy in high school/college and coach now. I remember when I first started thinking I wasn’t going to make it anywhere and how much it hurt.
I was a distance guy in high school/college and coach now. I remember when I first started thinking I wasn’t going to make it anywhere and how much it hurt.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 7:30 pm to HeLeakin
quote:
Adindu
Finally one to root for
Posted on 2/3/21 at 7:32 pm to HeLeakin
Great story.
A man that will succeed in football or elsewhere. He has the drive and motivation.
Unfortunately, this is probably the most uplifting story I’ve seen in two years.
A man that will succeed in football or elsewhere. He has the drive and motivation.
Unfortunately, this is probably the most uplifting story I’ve seen in two years.
This post was edited on 2/3/21 at 7:42 pm
Posted on 2/3/21 at 8:27 pm to Gaston
(no message)
This post was edited on 10/17/21 at 10:35 pm
Posted on 2/3/21 at 8:52 pm to Boring
Great story.
Major respect to the coach for giving this young man a chance to turn his life around.
quote:While that's true, it's pretty incredible when you consider that his scholarship just provided this kid with a college education, a meal plan, and a place to live for four years if he wants it. That's quite a step up from working 3-7 AM so you don't get kicked out of the homeless shelter.
Other than money, there’s not much that football can give this kid...he’s already got discipline, work ethic, determination, and tenacity. All at just 19 years old.
Major respect to the coach for giving this young man a chance to turn his life around.
Posted on 2/3/21 at 9:54 pm to HeLeakin
That’s a dedicated young man and an outstanding football coach
Posted on 2/4/21 at 2:31 am to Gulf Coast Tiger
quote:
That’s a dedicated young man
Absolutely. Amazing perseverance and work ethic.
quote:
an outstanding football coach
Is there a rule in Texas that forbids the coach from taking him in after being left for dead by his family? I'm sorry, but that kid would live with me until he went to college. If the ruling parties said no, I'd scream from the rooftops to local media over and over again until it was allowed.
I'm not trying to shite on the coach. I'm just wondering why the staff couldn't do more for the young man.
Posted on 2/4/21 at 4:54 am to lsutiger2010
quote:
Dear Facebook
Lol. I read his post like 4 times trying to see if it related to the op and I was just too stupid. I started to question everything I knew about reading comprehension.
Posted on 2/4/21 at 8:27 am to HeLeakin
Now this is a feel good story I like to hear.
With this kids amazing work ethic, he has the potential to go far and be successful both on and off the football field.
If this kid went D1, this would make for a great Tom Renaldi story on gameday. But on the other hand, with him going D2, probably allows him to better focus on his academics as well as football.
With this kids amazing work ethic, he has the potential to go far and be successful both on and off the football field.
If this kid went D1, this would make for a great Tom Renaldi story on gameday. But on the other hand, with him going D2, probably allows him to better focus on his academics as well as football.
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