BOUNTIFUL—In a time where bullying and decisiveness has become commonplace, students at Meadowbrook Elementary are learning to be kind and to believe in themselves. Former NFL player Shamiel Gary visited the school on Monday to share his message of hope.

“Be kind,” said Gary. “Encourage and support each other. If you fail, be kind to yourself. If you believe in yourself you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Gary played for the New England Patriots and retired in 2018. Since then he has written a children’s book “Life of Lahray” that was inspired by his daughter that teaches these principles.

“If you have the right voices you can make right choices,” he said. “I had a lot of right voices that encouraged me that I could be the right voice for students so I decided to pursue this path.”

Gary travels all over to inspire and motivate students. “I speak to people from kindergarten to 100 years old,” he said. “Third through fifth graders don’t necessarily retain everything but I want them to believe in themselves and take the steps to be better tomorrow and for the future.”

“We were looking for a way to kind of push social emotional learning and a kindness campaign,” said Meadowbrook Principal Ryan Van Natter. “The sixth graders will have Zoom meetings with him for the rest of the year so it’s an ongoing partnership. We’re also going to use his book as we study literature.”

“Does anyone know what NFL stands for?” Gary asked a group of sixth graders. “It stands for ‘Not For Long.’ You have to show up and play well if you want to succeed.”

Gary said when he was in the sixth grade he decided he wanted to be the greatest football player of all time. “The problem was I wasn’t very good. I would hit the side of the house when I threw the football. The other kids would chant ‘you suck.’ I had a pity party over the negative words people said to me.”

When he got home he told his dad he wasn’t going to play football. “My dad said, ‘look in the mirror.’ I could see myself and he said ‘you are the key to being successful.’”

Gary told the kids they can do amazing things. “You have to wake up every single day and change the way you think. Don’t make excuses. You have the power to be better. You can’t blame other people. You’re just holding yourself back.”

The hardest thing to work on is believing in yourself, he said. “My mom had cancer. When I found out I told her I wouldn’t go to the NFL I’d stay back and take care of her. She said ‘go and live your life.’”

She battled cancer for two years, said Gary. “While she was going through treatment she said she wanted to focus on seeing her son play in the NFL and watching her grandchildren. She had hope. She passed away two years ago. She may have lost the battle but she won the war. Hope is so powerful.”λ