Other players supporting the Special Olympics with their calico cleats this weekend include Aaron Rodgers, Tyreek Hill, Joe Flacco and Kareem Hunt. “I competed in the Special Olympics when I was young in middle school and that’s when (I realized) that I can do something in life.” They didn’t know my history or my story about the Special Olympics,” Charles said.
“A lot of people where happy that I did it. “I had to fight all my life to prove to people that I can do those things,” said Charles, who will pay tribute to the Special Olympics this weekend as one of 1,000 players who will lace up customized cleats reflecting their charitable endeavors as part of the league’s “My Cause My Cleats” campaign.Ĭharles began to share his story two years ago when he gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics in Los Angeles in front of more than 60,000 people.
JAMAAL CHARLES SPECIAL PROFESSIONAL
And Charles set out to prove wrong the doubters who said he wasn’t smart enough to get into college and would never play professional football. Once he gained confidence by competing in the Special Olympics, the teasing stopped. But when they saw me play sports, there was just something about me where people came to me and just stopped talking about me and started being more of my friend,” Charles said in an interview with The Associated Press in which he opened up about the role Special Olympics played in his life. “I feel like I was an outcast, I was left out because so many people made fun of me. For most of his NFL career, Jamaal Charles hid the challenges of his childhood when he was badgered over his reading disability before finding a lifeline in the Special Olympics.
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