Growing up a sports fan, especially an avid lover of my Eagles, I have always admired the athletes who made it to the big leagues. Their natural abilities to be a powerful presence on the field impressed me in a way that most well-known stars could not. I looked up to them.

But as I got older and my child-ness matured into the intellectual being I like to consider myself today, I adopted the notion that admiration should come from who you are as a person, not how famous you become in life.

As private lives of players like at the time Giants wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, emerged, it reminded me that not all of these guys are people to look up to, especially for the youth of today.

And for those of you who do not remember good ol’ Plaxico let me refresh your memory… He served time for, if we are being technical with it, attempted criminal possession of a weapon or as I like to refer it, pulling the idiotic move of shooting himself in the leg with his illegally possessed gun. Not a joke.

Now to get back on point, I am not saying this is applicable to all NFL players seeing as there are a few who stand above the rest.

Beloved All-Pro Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha is a prime example of this.

An American born Nigerian, Asomugha is well known for his impressive career, but perhaps equally known for his service to NFL partner United Way, an organization founded to strengthen American communities.

His accomplishments, including creating the Asomugha Foundation, an organization which focuses on empowering disadvantaged youth within the United States and Africa through education, has not gone unnoticed by both the NFL community and public service organizations.

Rewarded with what I consider the “Nobel Prize” of volunteerism, the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2010 and the Byron “Whizzard” White Award, the highest honor of the NFL Players Association in 2011, he’s solidified as one of the NFL’s valuable players, both on and off the field.

It is living legends like Asomugha who embody what a true role model is that kids these days should look up to. Instead they choose to admire someone simply because they aim to ‘disrespect female and acquire currency.

Let us teach our youth the true meaning of a hero, trust me, the future of our country needs it.