How Indy’s OUTSTANDIN’ black high school football players are shreddin’ the stereotypes and makin’ us proud!!

"I've got to be great so that those comin' behind me can walk in my foot steps!"

I started coverin’ high school sports for the first time this year and I’m havin’ a blast. It’s been amazin’ gettin’ around to all of the schools and gettin’ to know the players, coaches and parents of these outstandin’ kids. I’ve been coverin’ the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference known to all the real playas as simply the M.I.C.. It’s the best conference in the state of Indiana and it’s one of the Top 14 in the country.

Therefore, there is a ton of talent comin’ out of this joint. Every Friday I’m talkin’ to kids that have multiple scholarship offers to FBS schools formally known as Division 1. What’s so crazy is that it’s nothin’ to run up on a kid that’s got offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Florida etc. Nothin’! Kids are tryin’ to decide where they’re goin’ to college next year for free. Some of these cats have already committed and they’ve moved on.

Duns like the top recruit in the state, Lawrence Central’s Cam McGrone, who is a straight up beast, is goin’ to Michigan. Then there’s North Central’s DJ Johnson who’s headed to Iowa. You’ve got Reese Taylor from Ben Davis that’s goin’ to Indiana and there’s Warren Central’s Julius Brents that’s goin’ to Iowa. There are two kids over at Cathedral that’s not in the M.I.C. but need to be mentioned. They are Emil Ekiyor that’s goin’ to Michigan and Markese Stepp who’s goin’ to Notre Dame. Branson Deen from Lawrence Central and Elijah Bell from Ben Davis are both headed to Purdue. I could name another 20 kids that are playin’ in the city that are goin’ to college next year for free because their gift has made room for them. The word of God says in Proverbs 18:16 “A man’s gift will make room for him, and will bring him before great men.”  

What’s so amazin’ about this experience of coverin’ these young men is that 98 percent of the kids that I’m talkin’ about are black. They’ve been able to step outside of the stereo-types and limitations that the world has put on their lives. They’ve succeeded when most people have ignored just how great their accomplishments have been up to this point.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Accordin’ to the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based advocacy group, who issued a report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee on racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, “1 In 3 Black Males Will Go To Prison In Their Lifetime.” Not because black men are so much more violent that their white counterparts but because the system is designed for them to fail.

A black male in America is six times more likely to be convicted of the same crime as their white counterparts. Accordin’ to the report black men were 12 times more likely to receive prison sentences for drug offenses even though surveys have shown that both white and black folks in the America buy and sell dope at the same rate.

I bring up all of that to say this, while all of this foolishness is goin’ on in every neighborhood in Indianapolis just like it does all over this country. The kids that I’ve been coverin’ have managed to avoid that foolishness and they’ve been able to make good on the gifts that God has blessed them with.

The news media is quick to run over to Brightwood or Haughville to report on a double murder or a triple homicide at 4:30am. However, when one of our kids accepts a scholarship to college it literally goes unnoticed in the media. Boyz aren’t runnin’ over to the schools to report that positive things happenin’ with our children but let one of these cats get arrested. It’ll be all over the 6 o’clock news.

Here are just of few of the cats I’m talkin’ about. Click on their photos and give them a shout.

Well playas…if they don’t see it I do!!! I’m proud of not only the players for doin’ the work but the coaches and most importantly the parents for pushin’ their kids and encouragin’ them to become their very best.

I know that the reality of the street is real. I’m from Gary bruh! I know that everybody isn’t goin’ to succeed. But I want to give a shout to all of the young thunder cats out here that are puttin’ in work to make the brotherhood of black men in America proud. You may not understand the impact that you’re makin’ right now but one day you will.

All of the shorty’s in the little leagues in your communities that are tryin’ to come up playin’ ball are watchin’ you. Trust me, they want to do what you’re doin’ bruh! You’re givin’ hope to the next set of cats comin’ behind you and maybe, just maybe, they’ll want to go to college just like you and NOT want to sell dope or get caught up in a judicial system that’s designed for them to fail. Salute my young brothers! Salute!!! Stop me when I start lyin’!

Playas Thesaurus: 

1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.

The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”

The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!