A. J. Green

In elementary school, I didn't even play sports, I was just straight up on the juggling team. I started out with the floating scarves. Then I went to tennis balls and all that. Then by like the fourth grade I was doing the Chinese yo-yo. And I was good, man. I was like a master Chinese yo-yo person. I was top five Dead or Alive in South Carolina.

It's about respect and the morals and the value of life. And treat people how you want to be treated. That's the biggest thing I was brought up on from my parents.

As an athlete, our platform is so high. A lot of people look up to us. So if they see us doing something positive, it can change the world.

My mom worked at Walmart for 33 years straight. Thirty-three years! Day in and day out.

My dad? He worked at a steel plant over in Charleston. Night shift. Nine at night to nine in the morning, no joke.

I have two brown boys I have to raise and I have to teach them the inequalities that being a black man comes with. That's a tough conversation to have with a young kid who doesn't see anything, who's always sheltered, who can get anything he wants, who's going to go to the best schools but at the same time he's a black boy and his dad is black.