College degrees a priority for several players
Bruce Irvin, who has played on some big stages in his NFL career, walked across one this month when he graduated with a sociology degree from West Virginia University.
“I kind of put it up there with the Super Bowl,” Irvin, who won a championship in 2014 with the Seahawks, said Tuesday. “Neck and neck.”
The defensive end was one of several Raiders who returned to graduate this month, joining receiver Amari Cooper, guard Gabe Jackson and tackle Jylan Ware. Head coach Jon Gruden said after Tuesday’s practice that the Raiders, who preach the concept of “finishing” on the field, have been “celebrating that internally” in recent weeks.
“For Bruce Irvin to go back and get his degree at West Virginia is outstanding, an unbelievable accomplishment,” Gruden said. “I hope a lot of young people out there can research Bruce Irvin, see where he’s come from in his life to get that piece of paper.”
Irvin provided much of his story in December in an article written for the Players’ Tribune website. Irvin, who grew up in Atlanta, wrote that, “back when I was 17, I was hanging out in trap houses and selling drugs.” He detailed an arrest at that age for burglary and carrying a concealed weapon, for which he served jail time, and his subsequent homelessness.
As Irvin wrote, he ultimately met a high school football coach named Chad Allen who took in Irvin and persuaded him college was a necessary step toward reaching the NFL. Irvin took and passed the GED, and enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut (Los Angeles County).
He transferred after two years to West Virginia, and played two seasons before declaring for the 2012 NFL draft. Two weeks before the draft, Irvin recounted in the Tribune article, he was out drinking with friends and made a “stupid decision” to knock the sign off a pizza-delivery car in the presence of a police officer, who arrested him.
It was a potential setback for Irvin, but one Seattle was willing to look past. The Seahawks took Irvin with the No. 15 overall pick, and he became a starter on a defense that led them to Super Bowl appearances in 2014 and 2015. Irvin also was suspended for four games in 2013 for violating the league policy on PEDs, something he now considers a learning experience.
“I was always a guy who had to get burnt a couple of times and learn,” Irvin said Tuesday. “That didn’t change when I got into the league. ... I still was immature even though I had been through what I had been through. I was still young-minded.”
Irvin admits that: “When I came (into the NFL), my first check was $2.5 million. I wasn’t thinking about going back to West Virginia after that.” A few factors changed his mind, including the effect that he hopes finishing his degree will have on his son, Brayden, who turns 5 next month.
“When kids come up to him, they can say that his dad was a good football player, and he can stop them and say, ‘He was a good football player, but he also got his bachelor’s degree,’ ” Irvin said. “‘He put education up there right along with his job.’ It was bigger than me. It was for my son and his kids and generations after me.”
To complete part of his requirements, Irvin said he engaged in community work and developed a passion for it. Last season, Irvin was the Raiders’ nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award. He also has taken a leadership role on the field, including stopping by the team facility on the first day of rookie minicamp recently to talk to several defensive players.
“Guys don’t often get second or third chances, but I was one of those guys who was fortunate enough to get” those, Irvin said. “I’m just happy that I didn’t blow it and I learned in time. Guys can learn from me. It’s never too late.”
Cooper, who was drafted in the first round from Alabama in 2015, said he finished his remaining classes online to earn a degree in criminal justice. He said attending graduation was “nostalgic,” as it was his first time back on campus since being drafted.
“I just wanted to finish what I started,” Cooper said. “It was important for me to go back and get that degree.”
Jackson, a third-round pick in 2014, said he left Mississippi State one class shy of completing his degree in general studies. He completed the final course — statistics — online.
“That’s what you go to school for, to get your degree,” Jackson said. “My mom and dad, everybody in my family, it’s been a big deal to them to have that. I wanted to get that also.”