There were no cameras in the auditorium at Piscataway (N.J.) High School on a muggy afternoon in June, when Malcolm Jenkins asked Jordan Matthews to speak at his football camp. Matthews didn't have notes or a preplanned speech. But he knew what he wanted to say.
Jenkins introduced Matthews as one of the hardest-working players on the Eagles. Matthews had been in those rooms when guest speakers tried to motivate teenagers by telling them they could become whatever they want to be. He didn't believe that to be true.
"You can't be whatever you want to be," Matthews said.