Right now you're at a point in your life either you become what you see every day,
or you become better.
You sink or swim.
I used to be over here all the time.
This was one of the hideouts, man.
So where did you sleep? In this room?
Yeah.
Right in here. Can you show me where?
Right here. Most of the time I just chill right here, put my book bag behind my head, and just lay back right here.
I played football growing up. I was always like one of the best athletes on
every team that I played on and everything and when freshman year came
that was the last thing that was on my mind.
Coming up you know we were basically poor. I grew up in the projects
and then mom got married, she got married so things started to get a little bit better
as I started getting a little little older.
Me and my ex-husband went through a divorce. It was a really bad one and
we went through losing our home and I ended up losing my job and then he moved
around a lot to different high schools because we had to go in an area where a
friend or family member would be able to assist at that time.
Before I move to Fort Mill, I was thinking about dropping out of high school.
I really didn't see a future in too much of nothing.
I felt like everything was was failing.
We all thought he was a sophomore and then we found out
after talking to him and everything when you transfer you get all the paperwork done
and everything he was actually a junior so eligibility is so crazy thing now.
He could practice but he couldn't play, if that makes any sense.
And he stayed through it and a lot kids don't do that you know like I'm not gonna practice.
If i'm not gonna play I'm not gonna practice. Well he did, he stayed out there.
There was never a moment where like before practice I'm like 'ah, I don't want to practice.'
I always wanted to practice because that was just like like I said that was my getaway.
That was like my time I could just really like you know get everything
out of my head and not focus on stuff that was going on.
When coaches got done with practice everything, we're leaving and all the kids are gone
there were times we've seen Antonio walking around and everybody would go
'Tonio, what are you still doing here? Why aren't you going home?'
This is the back door that I used to sneak into right here.
This one, and there's one on the other side.
I really had no other option.
It was either locker room, a friend's house
or if I catch a ride back all week in Charlotte or wherever I'm going
I'm not going to school the next day. It's impossible. It's not going to happen.
This the showers over here. This is where I was showering most of the time.
I'd always act like I'm coming to get some stuff I forgot and I'll put
something right here like in between the door right there like a little rock or something
just enough so I can slide back in and it would be open like that.
The first time I did it some of my teammates walked in that morning for
weightlifting and I like I had already showered everything so I was good but I
was asleep, so I hopped up they were like
'man, what are you doing sleeping in here?'
I think I said something like
'oh, man I got here early so I just, you know what I'm saying, I just been chilling.'
They didn't know I actually just been there for like the whole night.
At one point it was like every day for a whole week.
My mom, she would think I'm at one of my friend's houses, but I'd be sleeping in a locked room
just because I didn't want her worrying about it.
Once I found out about him going to the school
I mean as a mother, it cripples your self-esteem and your confidence
to know or feel like you're doing all that you can do but it's still not enough.
It's easy to say that I could have got help.
16, 17, 18 years old, that's one of the most embarrassing things to come to somebody and say
'hey, me and my family is homeless. Can you take me in?'
Especially in the beginning we had no clue.
Nobody really knew him well enough to know about what his home life was like.
After practice, coach Susie he was just like
'do any of the leaders have anything to say?'
He was talking to the DBs and I stood up like, 'yo, coach.'
I was about to say something and then as soon as I started talking my throat
felt like it was closing and then my body started cramping so every time I would move
that body part would cramp. They asked me had I been drinking water and
all that stuff of course I was like 'yeah, I've been drinking water' and then she
was like 'what have you eaten?' it was like probably 2:00pm and I was like
'I haven't ate yet' but truth be told I hadn't ate that day and the day before that I hadn't ate either
my body just my body gave in.
That's when I think it hit him the most
when he got up and he couldn't speak. After we got to know him, we knew
something was going on and me and Coach G talked to him a lot in the mornings
and everything and it took one day he finally opened up to us what was going
on and everything and we were like what do we gotta do to help this kid?
He sucked it up for a while until I think he couldn't do it no more.
I think the reaction when we found out was the same that you'd have for any student who's in
crisis or any family that's in need is immediate empathy to the situation
and a desire to respond from our head principal at the time, D Christopher, to
our athletic director to the coaches like Bo Gyler and Ed Susie, everybody
wanted to contribute and Antonio such a likable kid everybody wanted to help him
and help his family in any way that that we could.
I think that weighed on him so much
that it was such a relief when he got it off his chest.
The response that I got from my friends and my friends' families as far as just helping me
out and everything, it was awesome like because it made me feel like
people actually care, actually you know love me.
I came from an environment where like
even your own family don't show you that same love.
In education any time that a student struggles there's something that
we have to figure out as teachers and educators to make right but if the home
doesn't work it's so much harder and sometimes it's greater than just an
academic need making sure that their stomachs are full and and that they're
ready and capacity learn and when they're not it's it's showing compassion
and understanding and trying to help right the the situation before you can learn.
We always had protein bars I mean we gave the kids protein bars out of the
weigh room everything left and right and he just loaded them up that was the
first thing we did was take this, have this every morning, so we knew he was going to
eat breakfast and he was gonna have lunch at school and you know during
football season, they're eating dinner at school probably twice a week
and that's when he started getting really good friends and everything that
you know he did he'd go to his friends house a lot of times for dinner and
things like that and people came together and started helping
and it was like being a regular kid again.
One day in practice, I was having a bad practice
and my coach knew something was going on so he just
pulled me to the side he was like 'listen son, I know everything you're going through.'
'I know what you got on your mind and everything,' but he was like
'football is your way to get away from all of those problems' and he was just like
'either you become what you see every day, or you become better' and he was like
'right now, you're at the point of your life you sink or swim.'
And I always told him like, 'coach, I want to swim.'
I believe that when he got a sense of
that team and the coaches that were there to really show him love and to
show him that discipline is necessary for you to succeed in life
I believe that that's what changed his life and it helped him to get refocused and help him
to understand that he mattered even the more and if you keep your head on
straight that you can reach any goal that you attempt to obtain.
The house across the street from the high school, that house it really meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to my family.
The house is like 10 x 4 in the inside of it.
We didn't have A.C., we didn't have heat.
We would go to sleep
wintertime it would be so cold in the house like my mama went and she tried to buy
one of those little furnace heater things like it was still like so cold I didn't
they barely worked.
When we got that place and even though the power was out
my kids said it doesn't matter as long as we're together we don't want to go
anywhere else we'll light candles let's find some candles so we were in the
house with candles lit you know and just doing what we needed to do but the
important thing was that we were together as a family
I was so happy to have a crib, I would wake up in the morning like early and like all the cars
you know like all the people dropping the kids off all the students pulling up
I would come out here with my shirt off and stuff and just stand in the
front and wave to everybody like The Jeffersons or something.
In football
you got to play with a chip on your shoulder and he always did and that's something
you know coaches try to get out of kids instead of having a chip on their shoulder
we didn't have to do that with him because he loved being out there and we knew he was athletic.
Once he got out there on defense and started making some plays
he could fly around.
I received three defensive player of the week awards as well
as all region at defensive back. I lead the team in interceptions that year
and I led the team in pass deflections.
He made the right decisions and you can't say that about a lot of guys doing that
that would be in his situation just
say the heck with it you know but he had goals in mind and
that you know I give him all the props in the world for doing that.
I was the first person to graduate high school like out of majority of our
family so everybody came like this whole thing with filled with cars
everybody was here.
On that day we had people there and then we had
some of the school kids that came over afterwards and then a party after after
the party so it was awesome.
What people don't understand is what he had to do to
get to that point a lot kids wouldn't have done I know he knew what was right
he just had to find a way of doing it and there were some good people there
that helped him out you know we all tried, everybody kind of chipped in and
everything and he made some great friends there you know that's part of
the great story about what he went through.
For my family I was happy
as far as for me, even though I'm excited a little bit about it this is something I'm
supposed to do because I'm supposed to be different.
When the mail started rolling in and he got the first letter and he came in the
door he was like 'ma, I got a letter to a college' he fell down on his knees and we
cried I'm like "yes, Lord!' I felt like we literally won a lottery.
I ended up at Bluefield college because I found that this was the best place for me.
D3 school coaches you know they they
gotta find diamonds in the rough a lot of times and they definitely found one with him.
I think Antonio Dawkins is a great kid.
He's a super human being. I do not have to worry about him and in the classroom
with his grades, on the football field he's always going to be on time he does
exactly what we ask of him. I had no idea about
Antonio's upbringing. I had zero idea about it I could not believe what he had
been through because you would not have known that now.
Every semester he turned things around. He was on the Dean's List
I mean it really blessed my heart because
I don't know if you all know but his GPA was maybe a 1 or under.
For a lot of us folks who came from families that got degrees and it was expected of
you and and you were raised your whole life to do that it says a whole lot
about him I mean he's had to have self discipline he's had to do a lot of
things on his own and and and to get here and and I know he's had support
from his mom I know he's got a girlfriend that supports him but you
know when when you're trying to to figure out you know where am I gonna get
the money and what am I going to do and those kind of things he stayed the
course he's worked hard he's done what you have to do and you know and I can't
say enough great things about him and I'm very proud of him
He's been calling me and texting me quite a bit about how he's doing and
everything and we had such a good rapport with him you know it was I'm
just so happy to see where he's at now.
Without the coaches that was here at the
time looking out for me and everything, I wouldn't be in college
without those talks that they gave me I wouldn't be in college at all.
I think he'd be a good mentor for someone for kids that are going through some of the
same things he's going through there's nobody else better to look to than him
when you see somebody that has attempted to be strong through different
situations coming up through life and just still remains to be focused that in
itself is what has me amazed with him.
Aside from football, one of my motivators
and one of the most consistent things that's been in my life has been my girlfriend, Ajanee.
Throughout these years I've known her for a long time she kept
away from a lot of trouble so she's meant a lot to me throughout these years.
To see him see the greatness and see the love in Ajanee and to overcome
everything that he seen me go through from being shot at to being beat to
walking around with black eyes to being helpless in situations as a child that
has tried to protect their mother that could not or did not know what to do he
still seen the greatness in me as his mother he's seen my strength I talk to
him all the time about respecting women and he was still able to hear my voice
through it all as I tried to teach him something different
most people have so many imbalances in coming through abusive relationships he
didn't allow that to affect him to make the decision that he made and he still
embraced that love was still real he was able to see that in Ajanee
and to respect her and to push past what he's seen and to value love that to me is
one of the greatest accomplishments
I know I have to work ten times harder than anybody because that's all I've ever had to do in my life
so I know to be successful and stay successful I got to keep
working I got a grind even harder because it's another level
To go from homeless to get a college degree to play college football and now he's
wanting to play an NFL and CFL don't count him out Antonio Dawkins will
do everything humanly possible to achieve it that's been his whole life story