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EDUCATION FIRST

I am originally from Woodbury, New Jersey; growing up in South Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, was a wonderful experience for me. Early on in life my mother instilled values in me that are evident today in all of my on and off the field endeavors. I knew I wanted to attend college since I was a kid; education was one of the things that I knew was extremely essential in my life and completing college was something I wanted to accomplish; years later I can now say I am a proud graduate of University of Miami. I want aspiring athletes or anyone to know that education is beyond invaluable, my college years were some of the best times of my life, and I wouldn’t change them for anything in the world.

MAKE A CHANGE

Its very imperative to be well rounded in this industry…you have to stay humble, positive and focused on your goals at all times. I like to keep my hands in a variety of projects, and stay busy during my off season and I want to encourage kids around the world; to dream big andnever give up on their long term goals. This saying may sound cliché; however it is very true, you can be whatever you aspire to be, if you believe in God, believe in yourself and make a plan and day by day put your ultimate plan into action! I find in today’s society a great deal of individuals lose sight of their dreams and  eventually give up and try to blame there faults on everyone else around them. But in reality it all boils down to two key things ‘determination’ and having a vision’ nothing more nothing less! I encourage anyone who takes time out to read this to DREAM BIG….and take advantage of life and use everything as a vehicle…to support your dream! Every day you wake up God provides you with a ‘Fresh Start & A New Opportunity,’ it’s up to you as a individual to use all of the endless possibilities around you!

FROM THE FOOTBALL FIELD TO THE STUDIO

I have always been a music lover; I listen to A LOT of different people. I mean Stevie Wonder, you know when you were young when your mom used to clean the house and cut on the radio while cleaning. She used to have me listening to a variety of different music. Then going away to college, hanging with an eclectic group of people they put me on to different types of music as well, so I’m versatile. I’m not just into hip-hop; I listen to The Dave Matthews Band, Sublime. I can go in any direction with you.

I have a pretty good ear for music so I am very hands on with the selection of who gets signed to my label etc. I take time out and individually listen music material..I listen for different beats, production, and lyric relevancy among other things. I decided to start a label a couple years back; the name of my label is Swagga Entertainment which is based in Miami Florida, the label is owned by myself and R&B crooner Pleasure P. I met Pleasure P aka Marcus Cooper, in Miami. We had a mutual friend that promoted parties and Marcus came to my house for a barbecue and we became friends; started hanging out. I remember we were in the car one day, playing some music and there was a potential artist I wanted to work with and I was talking about how I wanted to start a label. He was telling me had the same goals and everything, and he said we should do this together, we continued to talk about it and he already had the name Swagga Entertainment, so we just went from there. At the end of the day, I just want Swagga Entertainment to be known for producing ‘quality music’ in today’s society!    

SUPER BOWL 2010

It would mean a lot feeling like going back to where you went to college and you get the chance to play in front of a lot of friends and family back in Miami for the Super Bowl.</p