Homeless Texas HS Football Player Signs To Play D-II College Football

If you're looking for a feel-good sports story in 2021, look no further than the one about 6'4, 275-pound, 19-year-old defensive tackle Leslie Adindu out of Arlington Heights, Texas. Adindu signed on the national letter of intent dotted line this week to play at D-II Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri where he'll have a roof over his head, a bed and amenities.

Why is that important? Because Adindu spent most of 2020 homeless and living in a shelter. Matt Stepp from Dave Campbell's TexasFootball.com wrote an interesting piece this week on Adindu, detailing how the Nigerian native ended up in the Fort Worth area in 2019 with his father (his mother remains in Nigeria), but a family dispute led to the father leaving for New Orleans and Adindu staying behind to fend for himself.

via Arlington Heights High School Counseling Department Facebook

Ultimately, the 19-year-old legal adult ended up at a shelter that required him to hold a job. So he worked from 3 a.m.-7 a.m. and then went to school. There were more obstacles for Adindu on his journey to signing with Southwest Baptist. He was too old to play high school football in Texas, so the Arlington Heights staff told Leslie that they'd do their part to help him get attention from college coaches if he showed up to practice and worked hard, even though he couldn't play in games.

Eventually, Southwest Baptist came to town and picked him up from the shelter. One thing led to another, and there was Leslie Adindu Wednesday signing his name to announce he'd attend SBU.

“The thing that makes this so special is Leslie had so much working against him, at any turn he could have given up," Arlington Heights head coach Phil Young told Stepp. "He totally trusted his coaches and never wavered. He did his part 100 percent and is such a humble kid. It’s the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had as a coach; we get victories on the field and those are great, but this win is bigger. He’s so excited and he has everything in front of him.”

And there it is, the best thing I've seen all week and possibly all year. Keep in mind, Adindu has been in the U.S. since the fall of 2019. The world around him has been completely screwed up pretty much the entire time, and yet here he is doing what he's asked and making the best of life. Good for him. Good for the people who helped him keep life on track, and hopefully this isn't the last time we're hearing the Adindu story.