I Feel Like I'm The

The Same Thing I Applied To Football, I Applied To Trying To Be An Actor And Hopefully It Came Off Well.

After I Got Disciplined I Got Introduced To Football And Then After That Everything Just Took Off For Me. I Had A Lot Of Role Models: The Teachers, The Coaches. Watching Them Give So Much To So Many Students So They Can Be Successful In Life Basically Just Ingrained In Me That I Think It's More Gratifying For Me To Give Back And Than Just To Receive.

I'm Really Looking Forward To The Hall Of Fame Ceremonies. It's Going To Be Unbelievable - Just Crazy. I'm Looking Forward To Thanking All The Fans For Inspiring Me To Go Out There And Play My Best Football Each And Every Game.

I Used To Help Out My Father, A Bricklayer, In The Summer. I'd Catch The Bricks (that Were Dropped). And It Made Me Strong, Catching Those Bricks. I Wouldn't Change Anything About It. That's Why I'm Where I Am Today. Really.

Coming From The South, I Just Felt You Had To Work Just A Little Bit Harder. It Was Not Going To Be Handed To You. I’d Get The Letters From All The Major Schools But No One Came Out To Talk To Me Face To Face Until This Small, Dominant Black School, Mississippi State Valley University Sent A Coach Out To Me. I Had A Chance To Talk To Him And He Said, ‘hey Jerry, We’re Going To Be Doing Some Great Things At Mississippi Valley State University And We Would Love To Have You There.’