Jerry Azumah was a CB with the Bears for his entire career, from 1999 to 2005. He now commentates for Comcast. But, Jerry is not to be defined by his post career-career; he should be known and recognized for his contributions and his eloquent words of wisdom and guidance. Beyond the field he gives back…here is his PURPOSE.

DM: What do you do to contribute to your community?

Well I have a foundation of my own; it’s called ASAP, Azumah Students Assisted Program. I got the idea because I was basically placed in a program like it, and what it does is assist underprivileged kids financially, it takes a lot of the burden off of their shoulders. It is based out of Boston, my home town of Worcester. Back in 2004 I got the idea that I wanted to give back at the high school level. Then I just started to donate my time, especially in the off season.

DM: Who was your biggest influence growing up as an athlete?
Walter Payton. The stuff that he did on the football field of course speaks for itself, he was a tremendous guy off the field and that’s what most people talk about. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be like Walter Payton so it was definitely an honor to play for the Chicago Bears, and I won the Walter Payton award in college. I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to him because at the time he was a little sick then, but he wrote me a nice hand written letter that is framed at my mothers’ house.

DM: How important is the role of family to your success?
It is very important because actually I am first generation born here; my parents were born and raised in Ghana, West Africa. So they moved over here with the intention of having a better life for their family; I have an older sister as well. I look at all of their struggles and all of the things that they have over come and it is definitely an inspiration to me; my mother and my father are definitely my biggest heroes.

DM: How do you manage to stay out of negative headlines?
By not doing negative stuff! You know right from wrong, especially when you get to your adulthood, you know good from bad and you just have to surround yourself with good people, I think that’s the most important thing. It can be hard because a lot of people that have a lot of success now probably didn’t come from that and they have all of these guys or whatever and influences from back home which might not be positive and they always feel obligated to go back and give their time to them. You have to let them know, and make that distinction between right from wrong, and you basically just follow your instincts.

DM: What, for you, is the hardest part about being a professional athlete?
The hardest part about being a professional athlete I would say for me was basically not listening to people. Not everyone is going to like you; it doesn’t matter if you are a good person, people aren’t going to like you. You are going to have a lot of negative press around you (along with positive). You have to build a wall up, you have to figure out a way to tolerate all of the negative stuff and just kind of let it trickle down your back and focus on the positive things.

DM: Which coach has been your biggest influence, and why?
Going way back…way back. High school, Owen Kilcoin, he was a good influence. He taught me a lot of tough lessons; I sat the bench for three years. We were a power house football team, so he played all of the upper classmen. I knew I was good and always believed in my talents and that they would shine through, but, I never got that opportunity until my senior year. So it was a really tough lesson for me to learn, but after that I blew up and got a scholarship and the rest is history. He taught me lessons like continue to work hard and just be patient. He didn’t necessarily play favorites; he just played the older guys. At first I thought he was picking on me, but later on I realized he kept me in to it, he kept a chip on my shoulder and I had to be patient and wait for that opportunity. That opportunity came and that’s the number one thing, how you take advantage of those opportunities. It was such a hard test.

DM: If you could tell all of the first year pros one thing, what would it be? I would say be patient. A lot of people try to go out there and do everything at once, they have to understand that you have to be patient in order to seize the opportunities that come to you, and take advantage of those opportunities. And, prepare for life after. Always prepare for life after, because realistically (laughs) I have never met a person that has just continued to be a professional athlete forever; it is going to come to an end. A lot of people don’t see that, all they see is what is in front of them, they don’t understand that there is a second life. You have to try to figure that out right now, when it happens it happens, when the paychecks stop coming…they stop, they really do stop. You have to line something up and make sure that you are prepared for the next step.

DM: When did you first fall in love with football?
I would have to say when I was a little kid. I was born in Oklahoma and moved to Lister in 1988, and the Chicago Bears in 1999. Back in Oklahoma we just play football all day long and my parents were really big on soccer. In Ghana, West Africa they are like soccer soccer soccer. So my father bought the soccer balls and stuff like that. And every day I picked it up and started running with it and hitting people with it. They were like, well maybe that's the wrong ball, so they put a football in my hand and everybody in my neighborhood was playing football, so it was kind of like a natural thing. Yeah, my father wanted me to kick a soccer ball, but I just wanted to pick it up and run with it.

DM: What is your most memorable moment as an athlete?
I would say winning the Walter Payton award in college was a memorable experience and also I would say winning the Brian Piccolo award my rookie year with the Chicago Bears, because it's kind of like a team award. The team basically votes for it, and that was really cool. Picking off Donovan McNabb in a playoff game was pretty nice too, and taking it to the house for a touchdown… might I add.

DM: Should athletes be more involved in their church and community and if they were do you think that would quell the negative stereotypes that surround athletes?
I'm a person that feels like it's very important to basically just give back. I’ve had a lot of help to get me to where I'm at right now and it's taken a lot of people to get me here, so it's natural for me to give back. I feel like it is important because whether you like it or not kids are going to look up to you. One of my good friends, he’s a schoolteacher, and he teaches eighth grade history. I went into his class and he was teaching and these guys really paid attention to him, but then he wanted me to come and speak to the kids as well, and their eyes were just lit up and they were so into me and you just have that effect. If you can make that positive impact with some kids then I think it's important to continue to do that, because it’s going to touch someone and someone’s going to remember that moment and maybe catapult them forward.