Top Ten Essay, Research Paper

Eng/per. 7

10-4-98

Terrell Davis

There are billions of people on our earth, every once and a while great people are born. For these people to become great it means they have to stand out from the crowd, do something extraordinary. In 1972 a ?great one? was born his name was Terrell Davis.

Many great people have to face adversity, ill give u some background on Terrell, and I?ll also tell you about what made Terrell so great. The memories of Terrell are very interesting and I want to share some things that really stood out in his life.

Terrell being only 28 today has full-filled his goals and wishes. Being black was not too much of a problem for him, primarily because he grew up in a poor neighborhood of San Diego, California, with many different ethnic groups, primarily Hispanics. Terrell?s family consisted of his mother, father, and six older brothers. His mother was a hard worker with a big heart, but his father was an alcoholic, drug addict, and a disciplinarian. His brothers played a huge role into how Terrell grew up. Primarily by showing him what not to do. In essence Terrell had what he thought a great bringing up, and is a well achieved man.

Terrell faced much adversity growing up, playing in the NFL (national football league), and succeeding in the NFL. For example, while he was growing up his father

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was an alcoholic and as a result of that he would be abusive towards him. His father was always trying to make him as tough as he could be, which Terrell needed to be because of his neighborhood. His father was always in and out of Terrell’s life most always due to the fact that he was in jail. When Terrell was entering the 9th grade his father died of Lipus, this caused great pain for Terrell, he stopped working hard, stopped playing football and participating in activities, and he actually dropped out of school. His mother was not pleased with this so she made him attend. Terrell made a great decision in his life to transfer to Lincoln high school, he wanted to start over and forget about his hard time in 9th grade. Another hardship in Terrell life was that he didn?t have very much money, and had to sacrifice things for the good of the family. This adversity is what made Terrell an even greater person.

For Terrell to become great he had to have much success, and many different kinds of values. For example, he wasn?t very successful until he got into the NFL, before that he had a lot of luck and great determination. When it came time for Terrell to go to college he thought a lot about academics because he didn?t believe he would ever make it to the NFL. He first attended Long Beach State Univ. then when the football program there shut down he had an opportunity to attend the Univ. of Georgia which he quickly accepted. He flourished at running back there and was fighting to be drafted into the NFL. Late in the sixth round of the draft his name was called and he was the 196th overall pick, the Denver Bronco?s chose him. He was their sixth-string running back during

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preseason then he worked his way up to fifth, fourth, third, second, and finally before the first game he was moved up to first string. During his rookie season he maintained first

string and became what he is know for today as one of the games greatest running backs ever. In 1997 the bronco?s won the super-bowl, the next year (1998) the bronco?s won it for a second time and Terrell got 2000 yards rushing, the record, and he was also awarded with the super-bowl MVP (most valuable player). Now tell me those aren?t great achievements!

In closing, Terrell Davis was a great athlete, scholar, and overall human being. He?s a roll-model for millions of people, and has the talent to become an even bigger roll-model. His success was never just handed to him; he had to work extraordinarily hard for it, which made himself and an extraordinary person, one of the ?greats?!