Growing up in Hollywood Hills, Florida, middle school was a trying time for Colts linebacker Jabaal Sheard.
“I was teetering back and forth – did I want to do well in school or did I not?” he said.
Eventually, sports helped him decide.
“I started running track and started trying to play every sport,” he said. “It helped me improve my academics because you had to have a certain GPA to play. I saw kids that didn’t play sports and they had no motivation at home.”
Sheard was fortunate. He had the motivation from sports, but he also had it from home.