Name: Carlos Emmons
Profession: Retired NFL player; Owner of the charity 51 Ways; Current restaurant and insurance company owner
Age: 42
Retired NFL player Carlos Emmons is helping to redefine the stereotypes many black NFL athletes are subjected to on a daily basis.
After being drafted in the seventh round of the 1996 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, some might have considered Emmons a long shot for making the roster, but Emmons had different plans. He played for the Steelers until 1999, and began suiting up for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000, where he went on to be named the defensive MVP in his final year with the team. The New York Giants recognized his abilities and signed Emmons as a free agent in 2004, and he became an instant contributor. The Giants released Emmons on February 12, 2007, and after having a successful career with the NFL, he now makes big plays off the field.
Watching his mother work tirelessly to provide for he and his daughter gave Emmons all the fuel and inspiration he needed to grow into a hardworking, successful man. “I want to be a man that they will always look at with pride,” says Emmons, “a man that will show respect to my family’s name. My mom is definitely a woman of character. She’s a lady that showed tough love and values by letting me know that, with hard work, I can make it.”
Once Emmons entered the collegiate level, he wasted no time placing his priorities in order as a student-athlete. “I made sure I didn’t waste my scholarship, and I graduated before I was drafted. Graduating was my ‘plan A,’ and making it to the NFL was just my dream.”
Emmons’ dream to play in the NFL came true, and he knew that it was something he could not take for granted. “I always knew I wanted to play professionally, but I didn’t realize my dream could come true, until after my junior year of college,” he says.
Armed with a strong belief in himself coupled with an ability to encourage others, Emmons set the tone for young men on the field and in the working world. “I started to take on more of a leadership role in football, and I realized how much it meant to younger players when I told them how great they could be,” says Emmons. “I guess those small comments that I thought were normal ended up making an extraordinary impact on their lives.”
Taking on this leadership role was more than rhetoric for Emmons. He put his actions behind his words and went back to school to pursue his MBA. “After graduating a year early from Arkansas State University, I said that I would never go back to school,” Emmons tells BE Modern Man. Emmons recently received his MBA, along a few other NFL players, from the University of Miami.
“It’s much easier to stress the importance of an education to my daughter, when she sees me doing it, as well. Professionally, I beat the odds. I was able to play 11 years in the NFL, and after retiring, I was able to be a successful business man.”
Read more on page 2…
Though a retired NFL player, MBA candidate, and an intelligent, young man, Emmons still could not escape the realities of the world we live in today. As he began scouting locations for his restaurant, Emmons witnessed first-hand how black business owners are placed at a disadvantage. “Locations would all of a sudden become unavailable after learning the owner was African American; that showed me how real racism is,” Emmons tells BE Modern Man. “It was even suggested that I send someone who is Caucasian to meetings to act as the owner. My response to that was that if that’s what it took, I would never open a business, because I would never stoop that low.”
Knowing that these inequalities exist, Emmons makes it his business to make sure today’s youth sees positive role models, and that people know there is much more to NFL athletes than what is seen on the field. “We are business men, we are committed to our families, we love God, we can play game after game, win Super Bowls, and even become Hall of Famers, but most of all, we give back to our communities and help our fellow men.”
Working with numerous charities throughout his career, Emmons is now helping many in need through his own foundation, 51 Ways. “We provide empowerment for our community, and we pledge to build stronger and healthier communities,” Emmons tells BE Modern Man. “I grew up in a low-income household, and I didn’t even realize I did until I was older. My family sacrificed to make sure I was shielded from our shortcomings. I look forward to being that shield for people that are less fortunate in the future.”
A man of substance and character, Emmons says, “Being a BE Modern Man means to make an impact on and off the playing field, in business as well as sports. A BE Modern Man is a man that never forgets where he came from, and he is that spark that lights the flame for the youth of today.”
The Black Enterprise team salutes Carlos Emmons for persevering through his trials and tribulations, and realizing that his greatest impact is felt off the field. We look forward to seeing him continue to make an impact on his community through his philanthropic work, while helping to position today’s youth as future BE Modern Men.
It’s our normal to be extraordinary. Follow @blackenterprise and join the BE Modern Man conversation using #BEModernMan.