"Dear Momma"

"Thanks Momma for believing in me!"

In February of 1995 Tupac released one the hottest songs ever recorded called "Dear Momma" in dedication to his mother and the sacrifices that she made during his up bringing. Regardless of the mistakes that she made or the struggles that they went through, Pac loved his mother.

Well...last night during the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony we saw that same love expressed by Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharp and Marshall Faulk. Their speeches were so powerful that all I could say was Praise God!

Deion talked about how his mother  worked multiple jobs and how he made a promise to her when he was only seven years old that he would be rich and that she would never have to work another day in her life. Shannon went on to say how his grand mother took him in when he was three months old and raise him in poverty and love.

Those speeches were powerful to me because they weren't about playing the game and being good. They were about why they played and were so good. It reminded us of how important it is to have a purpose for doing whatever it is that we decide to do with our lives.  Deion said, "If your dream ain't bigger than you, there's a problem with your dream." That’s powerful stuff bruh!

"Deion's bust with his classic do-rag"

"Prime Time" went out just the way he came in, with a whole lot of flavor and flash! Deion showed up in Canton with white pants and vest on under his gold jacket and while rocking the gold shoes to match. Since day one he's done it his way. My man even pulled out the black do-rag and put it on his bust. Classic Deion Sanders but most importantly he brought all of the flash to the table because of his mother!

Shannon Sharp gave that same love and honor to his grandmother who raised him in poverty in a house where they would get wet whenever it rained. In an interview after the ceremony on NFL network he explained how they would have to prop a chair against the refrigerator to keep it closed.

Marshall said that his mother never got to see him play until he was in college because she worked all of the time during that same interview. He revealed to us that his high school coach came along side of him and took him to school because he couldn't afford to ride the bus and it was too far to walk. At the same time he would pay for him to go to football camp in the summers.

Thank God for those men that come along side of the fatherless but more importantly, thank God for Momma's and their endless sacrifices. Thank you for being there to help young boys to become productive men even when their father's aren't there. It saddens me to know that more than 70% of children are being born to single mothers. So many of our young boys are growing up without their fathers and that is a shame. More importantly, they aren’t being supported by them whether emotionally or financially.

Forget what you learned in school. The word "Daddy" is a verb because it's an action word. Whenever you become a daddy you've got to do something. You can't just sit idle and let your child grow up. Too many of our children are failing because of this.  However, I was so happy to see three of them became Hall Of Famers!

For all of those kids growing up without a dad, last night Deion, Marshall and Shannon showed you that you can become anything that you want to be. You've just got to be focused on the prize. According to Deion, "What separates us is that we expect to be great," he said. "I expect to be great; I expect to do what had to be done. I expect to make change."

When Shannon went off to Savannah State he took two brown grocery bags filled with his belongings and all he heard was how he was destined to fail. He said, "When people told me I'd never make it, I listened to the one person who said I could: me."

Believe in yourselves young brothers regardless of what your circumstances are because God didn't make a mistake when he made you!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport