 Alright you guys, what is going on? Welcome back to another video. This video is going to be the first of a video series that I am so excited about. I'm actually nervous to be honest because I want it to come out as good as possible. I don't want to fuck it up for any of these guys. I really, really am getting behind my three friends who deserve to play football at the higher level but just have not received the opportunity or are not in the position to receive the opportunity. I'm doing what I can to help. The first player that we're focusing on, his name is Armin. I have requested to each of these athletes to send me their story. And I knew that that question, their football story, I could probably bring up the exact message that I sent but basically I needed their story. I needed their football story from the beginning, right to the current day. And, you know, the first thing that I came back with was, whoa, I mean, I've never actually been asked to do that before. You know, this might be actually quite hard. You know, one guy started trying to type it out on Instagram and I said, bro, do a Word document. Get a Word document up, type it all out, take a week if you have to and then get it to me. And I'm going to convey that to my audience. So that's what we're going to do today. The first story that we're going to tell is of Armin Van As. And Armin is South African. He is 19 years of age. He's 250 pounds and he's six foot four. He's still growing. He's getting faster, bigger, stronger by the day. And he is more determined to make it in the NFL as an international than anyone I've ever met at that age before. He is so committed. His family is on board. And when you're watching things like Undiscovered, when you're hearing about programs like the IMG Academy for international pathway players, this guy should be right at the top of the list. Anyways, guys, I'm going to read word for word his story. That is going to be this video complete. Following that, I'm going to be reacting to his highlights that he sent me. And then we'll move on to the next player. So with that being said, let me pull up Armin's story. It all started back in 2014. My family and I visited New York and the sport immediately grabbed my attention. I just felt home. In March 2016, at the age of 15, I was working as a casual worker in a restaurant. And suddenly all I could think of was the NFL. I saw the shield in my head for the rest of that day. I was so confused because there was no way that I could even reach the NFL, since I have no experience, no physical attributes, and I'm on the wrong side of the world to even be in contention for any football position. So this is at age 15 in March of 2016. In 2014, at the age of 13, him and his family visited New York and was amazed by the NFL. I decided that I was going to start working to reach the NFL, rise above my circumstances, and become one of the best international players the NFL has ever seen. And I don't doubt it, man. The way that this guy talks, he fucking believes it and he's going to do it. And I believe in him. I started training every day, hitting the gym, watching some footage, and learning how to exercise to improve myself. In July 2016, I took a massive shot in the dark and reached out to the director of communications of the New York Giants. I had no idea about this. In 2016, I didn't think he would respond to my mail, mail, considering that I gave him my stats, and my best 40 time was 521. To our surprise, he responded to our mail and gave my information to their scouting department. I didn't hear from them again, and when I wanted to send him another mail, they had a new person in that position and I couldn't find his email address. So that was the end of that relationship. The fact that the NFL team actually responded to a nobody from South Africa was so encouraging to me, and I decided to make work of it and take charge of my dream. Wow. That's incredible. We don't know who this guy is, but that one email back was the catalyst for this journey to go where it has done from there. If he didn't receive that email back, who knows what he would have done? That's incredible, bro. And that goes to show if you don't ask, you don't get. And he was only 16. At the end of 2016, I told my best friend about my dream. I didn't tell anyone, because I knew that I would get mocked and ridiculed at school if the people found out that my dream was to play in the NFL. Now, this guy is in South Africa, so the major sport would probably be rugby. Since it came out that this was my dream, I never heard the end of it. People would tell me to my face that I won't make it in front of other people. They asked me if I was looking for attention, what I was trying to gain out of telling this lie. Yeah, that's what high school's like, man. Family members didn't think I would be able to achieve my goal and some still believe that to this day. Not that any of this discouraged me to reach my goal, but it was hard to keep a straight face at school when I was openly mocked. I believe that this period actually built my character a lot. As till this day when I attempt something crazy, I think of them saying that I can't do it and sure enough, I complete my task. And he's got in brackets, like pushing a truck up a hill. Bro, this guy is strong. This guy's strong as an ox, man. Seriously. My original team was the New York Giants and to this day I still support them. I switched teams when I discovered the New England Patriots. I mean, they were and still are balling. They were making the most unbelievable plays and showcasing the ultimate clutch by making the biggest plays in the most stressful situations. This guy, this guy has some decent English, bro. I'm not going to lie. He's got some brains. Not just brawn, are you, Armin? In 2017, I discovered Gronk and there was no turning back from there. Yeah, well, in 2018 I discovered Gronk and yeah, there was certainly no turning back. My original intent was to play outside linebacker in brackets. One of the guys that mocked me asked me what position I wanted to play and when I said linebacker, he said that that's probably the only place I would be considered as close to good. So you originally wanted to be outside linebacker because you listened to one of your friends who doesn't know shit. I'm glad you changed your mind. I followed Devon Kennard and learned all about him but then I discovered Gronk. When I saw what a tight end is able to do, the blocks, the runs, the catches and the spikes, this made me reconsider my position as I am not taken down easily while running with the ball. I started training myself like a tight end. I still went to the gym daily. I ran 1040s every day in the street in front of our house. I learned the route tree and I watched every available video on Gronk. Now, this guy's still 16 at this stage. It was tough to focus on my schoolwork, play rugby for my school so he did play rugby and work on my dream all at once but that still didn't stop me. After school, I would go to the park close to our school and do my drills there. Then walk back to school for rugby practice. Then when I got home, I would do my homework and finally, at about six o'clock, I would enter the gym. This guy. This guy's going places, man. You can tell, right? School went on. People I thought were my friends made fun of me but I still continued to pursue my goal. By mid-2017, I decided that I wanted to attend an American university. I would get a great education, get to train every day, dominate on weekends and hopefully get invited to the NFL Combine. All I needed was a shot. I didn't apply to a South African university and this was risky as a qualification is very important. My first communication from an American university came in August of 2017 from a Division III school. I was so humbled that something I've worked for for the past two years has started. We spoke with the coach a few times and one day he just stopped communicating. We reached out to him multiple times but he never responded again. Similar situation. I was heartbroken as the application period for local universities was already closed by this time. I just put that behind me and kept working hard and believed that I would get another opportunity. 2018 arrived and my future was still uncertain. The final year of school is stressful enough for any student but to be worried about where you were going next year just made everything tougher especially considering that all of my friends already applied and got accepted to universities for 2019. In April 2018 the coach from a high school in New Jersey visited my primary school as their approach to see if the sport could develop in South Africa. Once again I was too late and by the time I found out about all this he was already back in New Jersey. Luckily the coach and a teacher from my school were family so that must have been why I went over so I got his details from the teacher to communicate him. I gave him my stats which has improved by now. My 40 time was now down to 464 and he was impressed. So this is in 2018. There was a possibility that I would finish my final year of high school in New Jersey and develop my game and technique and maybe just maybe get recruited by a university. This was the lucky break I was looking for. Third time lucky it seemed. All my hard work has led me to this moment and I was ready to make a huge success of the amazing opportunity presented to me. Unfortunately the coach that offered me the chance to play for him didn't know that their international pupil limit had been reached for 2018 and I couldn't go. Once again I was heartbroken. That feeling lasted for two weeks then I picked myself back up and decided to reach out to more universities. So here we are. Midway through 2018. Now this guy clearly doesn't need me to believe in himself. Which I like. Especially at such a young age. At first I aimed very high as I sent an email to Syracuse, Clemson, Michigan and Penn State. Needless to say I never received any feedback. I then shifted my focus to division 2 universities. At first we contacted close to 20 universities and out of those 20 only two have responded. It was very promising as we spoke for more than two months with those universities and like the previous university they just stopped communicating. We reached out multiple times but all the efforts were futile. Seems to be a recurring story here. Everyone just needs a shot. It's just no one thinks that giving a shot to... It's just no one thinks that any kids out there that are sending these emails are actually that determined. You know they're willing to die for this sport. No one thinks that but this guy really is. By this time 2018 was nearing its end and I had to start focusing on my final exams. I knew that I had to do exceptionally well to be admitted to an American university which we still had to find. I wrote my finals and with all the stress I still did well and achieved a GPA of 3.2. Now it was time to find me a university. As 2019 started I was still looking for a university and all my friends started their studies. I worked out every day, searched for universities for almost two weeks. I then decided on almost 100 universities that I was going to reach out to. They included both division 2 and 3 schools. I believe that I had to get at least 5 responses from that list. I have to say too. I also watched the first NFL undiscovered series and that gave me inspiration to push even harder. A period of a month went by before seeing 3 of the 96 universities that I reached out to respond. Once again things went well and I sent them my transcripts providing them with my stats and videos that were looking promising. Once again they just stopped communicating. Was this even meant to be I thought? Is this what I should be spending my time, effort and energy on? Why does this keep happening to me? Did I waste the past four years of my life by chasing an impossible dream? All these questions constantly repeated in my mind. This is a story and a half isn't it? I prayed a lot about my future 2019 I had 3 universities and a junior college interested in me and was excited about the possibility of me attending their university. I was beyond myself with joy and gratitude. The fact that American universities would reach out to a South African with no experience in the game of football was mind boggling to me. I had a reason to push myself to work hard, to keep on pushing and when I was tired to run that extra mile. So 2019 March he had 3 universities and a duko. Just through persistence. I was getting up at 4.30 to start doing my agility ladder exercises at 5 then be at the sports ground at 6.40 for my sprints and drills head home about 9, then gym until 10.30, watch games and learn the technicalities at night. This day new routine was strenuous and drained me but I had 4 reasons to push myself just like before. They just went quiet. Really? And to this day I have not heard back from them even though I have reached out to them multiple times. Do these guys just see someone in South Africa and think this is just too hard? They're not seeing the man for who he is, they're seeing the situation that he's in and just brushing it to the wayside it seems. Or maybe not. Maybe every single one of these coaches that hasn't got back to him is for a genuine reason. You never know. But that is really really disappointing. I decided to shift my focus and prepare for the international combine and hopefully become part of the international player pathway program. I started talking to one of the scouts involved with this program and he told me to keep working and also try to make the roster of a team in Germany, England or a European country as this would greatly improve my game. I followed his advice and reached out to 19 teams. This guy's a workhorse! They included teams from Germany, England and Canada. That night I prayed that if this is the future that God has set out for me that at least only one team respond to my email. This is some serious shit. Sure enough the following day only one team responded out of all 19 teams. The coach was excited as was I. The plan was for me to play for their team, gain experience and be very successful. The coach and I spoke for a while and unfortunately the logistical and financial challenges outweighed the possibilities. Eventually I did not go. Once again I was at point A. After this I decided to only focus on the international combine and I also started playing for my local rugby club. At this moment this is my story and I strongly believe the best is yet to come. I know the best is yet to come mate. One of my biggest motivational factors is the fact that a South African was signed in 2018 and another one was signed recently to the Chicago Bears. There have been seven South Africans in the NFL but I want to be the first one that is selected in the draft. That is why I am always working to ensure that I am good enough to be a team's draft pick. Today I measure at 6 foot 4 inches and 250 pounds. My hand size is 9.7 inches and my arm length is 33 inches. My best 40 time is 4.6 and my goal is to run a 4.55. My biggest goal is to make my possible teams starting roster. I am willing to outwork, outlearn and outplay any competitor. The competition will be tough but I am willing to do whatever it takes. Thank you. Armin van Asse The third of May 2020 In today's date my friends is the 13th of May. So there we have the story of Armin the football player the prospective tight end from South Africa who has tried and tried and tried to get his shot to play football at the next level or at least train under a coach at the next level to play his trade build his game and become the professional football player he has always dreamed of or since he is 13 What a story. That was absolutely fantastically written Armin, so thank you very much for that I hope that my audience enjoyed my next video we will be making rugby player reacts to Armin's football highlights and I cannot wait for that but I am going to run through all three of my players' stories first so I would say tomorrow we are going to react to Armin's football highlights but in the meantime I am going to continue with the next story which is Ruben Lightning Linton A 5 foot 9 190 pound dynamite running back and I cannot wait to bring his story to you but Armin I want to say I hope you enjoyed this video I am going to put some graphics behind me speaking so you won't have to just look at me the whole time hopefully it comes out nicely and hopefully we can do something for you and your football journey brother that's all I can say guys if you have liked the video hit the like button if you want to subscribe and see more please do and I will see you back here very shortly to continue with these football stories peace out