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The Making of a Servant Leader

–Tyrone Keys: A Guide, A Mentor, A Friend

Tyrone often shares that experience with kids because he believes they need to know that everyone has setbacks. The important thing is what happens next. They can resent them, become angry, blame someone else, or they can make up their minds to turn those negative setbacks into positive comebacks. When most players and fans celebrated after the Super Bowl game, Tyrone found himself walking down a street in New Orleans thinking about being a Super Bowl champion at the pinnacle of his career and having done what thousands of players had only dreamed about. I found time to get away just … walking . . . and thanking God for a dream come true.

“My parents and brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, principal, high school and college teammates and childhood friends were brought together by me playing football.” At that moment a voice pierced his mind. There is more, much more to life. “I realized God had just spoken to me,” Tyrone said.

By the next year Tyrone was no longer a Chicago Bear but a Tampa Bay Buccaneer—from the best team in football with an 18-1 record to the worst and a record of 2-14. Tyrone felt ready for a change and looked forward to reuniting with former coaches, Howard Tippett and Coach Rapp who were both were in Tampa. It was in Tampa where Tyrone first followed in his mother’s footsteps and began teaching at( Leto HS) in offseason. It was there that he met young men and women, students at the time, who have now become “NFFL: NOW FRIEND FOR LIFE.”

In Tampa, he played in Tampa Bay for two seasons before going to the San Diego Chargers. (The scripture Proverbs 19:21 says– There are many purposes in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord shall stand. Yes, the Lord’s counsel and plan for Tyrone’s next chapter was just beginning to unfold.

A career-ending injury to his back, knees, and shoulders force Tyrone to retire in 1989. While going through rehabilitation, Tyrone ran into Coach Mello while picking up his daughter at Nazareth Catholic School. Mello recognized him as a former Charger.

I remembered the principals, counselors, teachers, and coaches I had in school, and I wanted to be the champions they were to me and my friends. I wanted to help kids achieve and fulfill the dream God had placed in their spirit and soul.

The next year Tyrone returned back to Tampa and his childhood friend and safety patrol idol, Jessie Stegall, introduced him to Parnell Dickinson, an ex-Bucs quarterback who was coaching at Tampa Catholic High School. Head Coach David Lewis offered Tyrone the defensive line coaching position at Tampa Catholic and the school offered Tyrone a part-time counseling position so he could meet at-risk students and help them develop a game plan beyond high school.

He must have done something right, for soon kids and parents were seeking his help and counsel on how to get to college by way of a scholarship —Take out the only way disadvantaged kids with their background could even think about college. Yet he wanted the kids to graduate and return to help the next generation.

Each One, Teach One, Reach One. Most of the kids lacked mentors who had traveled the journey of real and true success. And most people who wanted to help were afraid to come into challenged neighborhoods and truly assist the kids and meet the parents. Without intervention, the cycle of despair is never broken but repeated over and over.

Leto High School’s Albert Perry, an outstanding football player, wanted to break free from that cycle. He possessed the potential to play collegiately and desperately wanted to reach that level so he could escape his debilitating environment. Tyrone helped Albert with his admissions application, made a highlight film of his games, and worked to get him a scholarship to Texas Southern University in Houston. But Tyrone didn’t know that Perry lacked the funds to make the trip to Houston. He never went.

On April 25, 1993, at a block party in a housing project, Albert playfully squirted someone with a water gun. That someone pulled a real gun and fired. Albert was struck in the back as he tried to get away. He died on the way to the hospital. “Nothing in my life had ever affected me so profoundly,” Tyrone recalls. “He had told me what was going to happen and it did three days later. It was the defining moment in my life when I realized something more had to be done. I knew the reclaiming of young lives had to start somewhere, so it might as well start with me and other caring people.”

But Tyrone didn’t know how, and he didn’t know where. God had all the answers, so Tyrone knew he had to place his trust in Him for wisdom and guidance.

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Special Guest Contributor
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