In the midst of team workouts, the stress of the NFL lockout, and going through four or five interviews a day, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Leonard Pope, an Americus, Ga., native and Columbus resident, found time to speak to about 45 Faith Middle School students Wednesday at Building 1056, the middle school and teen building, on Main Post.
Pope recently made headlines after saving a 6-year-old boy from drowning while at a pool party June 11 while visiting his hometown. Since then, Pope said he has done television interviews with networks such as the NFL Network, ESPN and CNN.
Alongside Pope was Shon Lewis, 13-time national wrestling champion and current head coach of the World Class Athlete Program wrestling team. Lewis was stationed at Fort Benning in the 1990s when the Army wrestling team trained here.
Lewis Fletcher, who owns Elite Security and Fitness, arranged the athletes’ appearance on post. The local fitness trainer works with Pope and members of the World Class Athlete Program when they’re in the area.
Pope and Lewis discussed their athletic careers, offered advice for success and took questions such as what their diet is like, how much they can bench press and how they keep in shape.
“It’s my first time in a while to get back and work with youths,” Lewis said. “Military youth are a rare breed of individuals. I was honored today to be able to share my thoughts with them.
“It reminded me of myself,” Lewis said. “I looked into their faces and there was a lot of unknown — not knowing what they want to do.”
In order to achieve their goals, Pope told the students to formulate a daily work ethic.
“You compete every day for your position,” Pope said about being on an NFL roster. “You have to critique yourself every day.”
Pope did not discuss his recent heroics and said afterward it had slipped his mind while he was answering questions.
After the Q and A, Fletcher spoke about the benefits of pursuing an education and a career through the Army. After the event, Pope and Lewis signed autographs for children and Families.
Pope began the Leonard Pope CHAMP (Creating Hope and Making Progress) Foundation in 2007, to reach out to youth athletes. In an interview with Pope after the event, Pope said through the foundation, he and Fletcher hope to start a yearly youth football camp for Fort Benning kids.
