Character Counts: LaDainian Tomlinson helps kids find accountability
Mar 12, 2016, 11:34 AM | Updated: 11:52 am
Former San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson poses with fans during the second half of an NFL football game between the Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, in San Diego. The Chargers retired Tomlinson's No. 21 and inducted him into the team Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
(AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
You can say there are moments in everyone’s life where they learn the difference between right and wrong. Moments where they discover their moral compass, and in doing so, profoundly influences how they live their lives.
Former NFL star LaDainian Tomlinson wrote on The Players’ Tribune how he has taken it upon himself to help guide young kids through this process.
You have to be a self-starter in order to really thrive. You need to understand accountability.
Along with Dr. Jacque Gaomino at the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas, Tomlinson established the Students’ Outstanding Academic Rise program, or SOAR for short.
Tomlinson explains the importance of accountability and how it impacts every facet of life, not just sports.
Whether it’s football or life, someone who is accountable recognizes when they’ve failed and makes the necessary adjustments in order to find success. The younger you do so, the better off you’ll be.
The SOAR program operates at two Texas high schools: University High and Waco High. Both schools have over 1,500 students with over 75% of them coming from low-income families. The retired NFL running back graduated from University High in 1997, and going back to help guide teenagers is much more than just a charitable cause.
It’s about instilling the importance and obligation of accountability, as his mother did for him.
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