In a powerful and emotional speech last night at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles, Kansas City Chiefs star running back Jamaal Charles made an admission that surely took a lot of courage and guts to come out and talk about.
Appearing on stage during the opening ceremonies to lead the athletes through the Special Olympics athletes' oath , Charles told the crowd that he was diagnosed with a learning disability as a child. Then, at age ten, Charles participated in the track and field competition at the Special Olympics.
"When I was 10 years old, I had the chance to compete in the Special Olympics. That’s right — the Special Olympics gave me my first chance to discover a talent I did not know I had.”
It's pretty awesome to see Charles open up and speak freely about his struggles as a child, and even more awesome that competing in the Special Olympics gave him a glimpse of just how talented of an athlete he really was. And while there's sure to be some jabroni who'll use Charles' admission to try and get in his head on the field in 2015, Charles should get some modicum of revenge by leaving him in the dust on a long touchdown run.
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com
[Via Youtube]
