Photos: Ex Clemson football player encourages youth, 'who was I going to be as a man?'
Motivated is what many call the speaker who shifted gears from a student-athlete who played in a football national championship to a person preparing for life after college football at Clemson University and Boston College.
Motivation comes with a purpose, too, and Dr. Richard Yeargin III expects it from the 16 teenagers who signed up for a life-transforming camp.
Nearly 16 months earlier, Dr. Yeargin reached out on Facebook for support.
"I’m on a mission to help over 100k students overcome social and emotional issues caused through internal and external conflicts," he wrote. "My faith-based & solution-oriented approach transcends all learning environments; K-12 or collegiate scholars can benefit from my message. I have a voice, and it’s my responsibility to use it."
Dr. Yeargin worked with The Fatherhood Coalition and Restoring Hope Counseling at the Anderson County Main Library to host the free three-week camp.
He currently teaches in the College of Education at Clemson University, has authored a book, "The Man is Greater Than the Brand," and speaks frequently to motivate youth and adults.
Sponsors Trammell & Mills, Pompous Pig, and Skin's Hotdogs chipped in to help the camp. Former Clemson football quarterback Woodrow Dantzler III, current running back Keith Adams, Jr., and many other friends joined in to be with the teens and teach them a variety of skills to transform them to the next level of life.
"The purpose was to teach lives, transformed through education and various levels, secondary and post-secondary is an issue," he said during the afternoon, honoring each camper who gave testimony about their experience.
"We know that access and belonging for our students, that our vulnerable populations are volatile situations, there's not enough resources out there for them to have the access for what they need," he said. "We wanted to meet them where they were, here at the Anderson County Library with the partnership that we formed with multiple partners and folks that came in to help support the initiative of seeing change through education and transformation through education and we're seeing it here."
The camp lasted three weeks, Monday through Friday. The teens learned soft skills, rhetorical skills, cultural literacy, historical literacy, STEM, innovation, and workforce development, and put them in a position for their future. "Professional development, understanding that you don't get the job that you want, you get the job that you earn. You earn it by starting now, by developing those skills now," Dr. Yeargin said.
Unexpected changes in life and being prepared for them come from personal experience, which he shares in his teaching.
"When I broke my neck in 2017 in a severe car wreck, Clemson University established who I was going to be as a man because they kept me in position to continue to developing the man, not just the brand of a football player," he said.
"In the course of three weeks, we've done almost a year's worth of work. So I'm very thankful for our staff, our partners, everyone that poured, because man, God moves. I'm very thankful for this initiative here with EmpowerTeens and looking forward to move the needle forward in our community."
As each camper got their T-shirt with a reminder they were special, the group posed for a photo for parents and friends, one well-mannered group pose, and one for fun.
"What more do I have to take from society versus what I have to give," he said. "I'm just doing what God's called me to do and be obedient. And having fun in the process."
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Ex Clemson football player motivates teens for future life, see photos
