Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell has made more than $70 million in his NFL career, and this week he reflected on just how far he has come.
On National Siblings Day, one of those made-for-social-media “holidays” that give people excuses to post pictures of their brothers and sisters, Campbell posted a moving portrait of himself with three of his brothers, in the homeless shelter where they lived, along with their other four siblings and their mom and dad, for six months of his childhood.
“This is a throwback to when we lived in a family homeless shelter,” Campbell wrote. “Eight of us in one room with a bunch of bunk beds . . . never needed money to have a good time! As long as we had each other we had enough!”
Campbell appeared on NFL Network and talked about why he’s open about his past.
“It’s a part of my life, my history, and it really is part of the motivation to help me get to where I am today,” Campbell said. “My family was very tight but we experienced a lot of hardships, living in a homeless shelter, being evicted, going around from house to house. Times were hard at times but we always stuck together and stayed strong.”
Campbell added that he wants children living in homeless shelters today to know, “put your head down and work hard, and good things can happen.”