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out for me as I watched out for him. I
had to remake myself inside and out. I
pored over the Bible. I drove to the mall
and hung out at Barnes & Noble, sitting
at one of the tables, reading every self-
help book and inspirational book that
I could get my hands on.
I’d get glimpses of what I needed to
do, but you can’t remake yourself all
at once. You need to take it in stages.
I had to face up to the truth of who I
was, not who I imagined myself to be. I
made short videos of what I’d learned
and posted them online, passing on the
advice. RehabTime, I called it.
One of my new rules for living was to
thank God at the beginning of each day,
before even getting out of bed. Thank
God for the life I was given. Thank God
for my parents, my son. Set things right.
I was just a former football player,
not a preacher, author or media star,but I got a call out of the blue. A guy I
knew from Baylor asked me to speak
at his church. “Who am I supposed to
speak to?” I asked. A bunch of teenag-
ers, he said. How many of them would
be there? “Five thousand,” he said. Five
thousand for my first speaking engage-
ment! How long was I supposed to talk?
“Five minutes,” he said.
Five minutes? It might as well have
been five hours. I tried not to freak out.
I wrote down all the things I should
say. I rehearsed them over and over in
my head. But the minute I stepped on
stage, my mind went blank. I had no
idea how to help these teens. All I could
talk about was what I’d been through. I
took a deep breath, opened my mouth
and spoke from the heart. No notes, no
filter. Just me straight up.
Those kids peppered me with ques-
tions afterward, hungry for more. I got
a huge ovation, bigger than I ever got
on the football field. That’s when it hit
me: You don’t have to be perfect to help
people. All you have to be is real.
My life was coming together. I was
working at being a good dad, a good
son, a good friend. Without even plan-
ning it, I had a whole new calling. I
began posting to YouTube every day.
The videos took off, getting thousands
of views, hundreds of thousands—mil-
lions. It was both humbling and awe-
inspiring. The comments and ques-
tions came pouring in, people asking
for advice, help I’d never be able to of-
fer if I were playing on Sunday. Help
that came from my own struggles.
One day, I picked up the Bible myPRO DREAMS Trent played on the Washington
Redskins practice squad in 2009.