Last week, on the Fox Sports show “Speak For Yourself,” former NBA and NFL stars tackled the tough subject of violence in urban neighborhoods.
In a segment titled “Darnell’s Question of the Day” the panel was asked: “In the wake of Nipsey Hussle, what can we do to reduce violence in the black community?”
Former NFL star Reggie Bush gave the first answer, which really showed the reality of what a lot of young black youth are facing today.
“This is such a deep question,” Bush started. “I’m so thankful that Fox would take this leap of faith that would allow us to talk about this because the only way I feel like things can change is if we have conversations like this — with a platform like this.”
“I will speak to my personal upbringing,” he said. “My real dad was not in my life growing up and so the foundation of why I wanted to be so great on the football field was because I wanted to make my dad jealous. I had this resentment and aggression that I grew up with towards my real dad, and as I got older I realized my dad never had his dad in his life.”
Bush’s father, now 53, didn’t meet his father until 5 years ago. The former NFL running back said most of his friends and athletes he’s met through his life didn’t have a father present in the home. He went on to say something that unfortunately has been seen as “controversial,” but is very true.
“To me, we gotta get back to the foundation at home with the parenting,” he stated. “I learned from a lot of the men through football. Football ultimately became that father for me. Now the issue with that is I’m learning from other men who are just as broken as me.”
“A good start is getting back to the foundation of where kids are young and making them understand, that listen, just because you have a tough upbringing doesn’t mean you can’t go on and be successful.”
“Not having a man in your life to show you how to be a man, that has significant effects. And a lot of those effects have stuck with me up into my relationship with my kids and my wife.”
Former professional athletes, Greg Jennings and Stephen Jackson both spoke on the issue as well and you can see all of their responses below:
⁉️Darnell's Question of The Day: In the wake of Nipsey Hussle, what can we do to reduce violence in the black community?
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) April 2, 2019
"My real dad wasn't in my life so the foundation of why I wanted to be so great on the field was because I wanted to make my dad jealous." —@ReggieBush pic.twitter.com/F31m3qeneE
H/T: The Blaze