MINNEAPOLIS -- During his remarks to the students of Westview Elementary School in Apple Valley, Minnesota, on Friday, Eric Kendricks kept his message global.
"We grew up just like you guys: playing outside, going to school every day, turning in your homework," Kendricks said. "As you learn and get older, you have to develop good habits."
The reason the Minnesota Vikings linebacker was there, though, was to serve a group of kids that could identify with one of the more trying aspects of his childhood.
Kendricks and his brother, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks, grew up in a single-parent household after their father Marvin became addicted to crack cocaine.