Fourth-round pick Devonta Freeman has a special backstory with plenty of elements that deserve their own attention. One of those side-stories is his relationship with former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew, Uncle Luke (Luther Campbell).
Campbell is a Big Brother in the Miami community and saw Freeman on the baseball field when Freeman was 9. Campbell told Al-Jazeera America that Freeman wasn’t like the other kids he had mentored.
“He smiled and was really respectful for a kid his age,” Campbell said. “Most kids out of the ’hood are angry. They have an attitude, and you’re trying to break that out of them. Devonta didn’t have anything. It was like life was beautiful for him.”
Freeman’s father was in prison during his youth, and Campbell ended up being more than just a positive influence on his life.
“He’s like a second father figure in my life,” Freeman said of Campbell. “He didn’t have to help me, but he did.”