In Northwest Miami, there’s a little neighborhood called Gwen Cherry Park that has fostered some incredible athletes, namely NFL stars Amari Cooper, Santana Moss, Chad Johnson, and Antonio Brown. Yet, while this low-income neighborhood where football reigns supreme seems to grow NFL legends from the ground, those that grew up here faced many challenges.
According to ESPN, one of Brown’s earliest memories “was watching a man steal a purse from his elementary school teacher, dashing away as the shocked students looked on.” As he got older, his friends joined gangs and nearly every party he went to “ended in a shootout.”
Brown’s childhood football coach, Tyrone Hilton, the father of fellow NFL star T.Y. Hilton, said that he’s had three players murdered. For that reason and more, those that those that get out of Gwen Cherry Park tend to stay out. At least, that was the case with Brown. According to Hilton, “When he left the park, he disappeared.”
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