Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Lang.
Hi Brandon, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Father of five children married to my beautiful wife & college love Mrs. Monique Johnson-Lang currently living in Rockdale County. I was born in Atlanta raised in Decatur., graduating from Tucker High School. I Earned a football scholarship to Troy University in Troy, Alabama where I was a college All American All Conference athlete graduating in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Hospitality Tourism Management minor in Sports Management. After college, I played professionally in the National Football League & Canadian Football League for five years for the San Diego Chargers Edmonton Eskimos & Ottawa Redblacks. Retiring in 2015 moving back to my hometown Decatur Georgia where I’m teaching in Dekalb County School Systems, Defensive Coordinator for Tucker High School Varsity Football team, Vice President of Donavans Dream Food Bank and Owners of My Grind My Empire Sports & Fitness Training & Brandon Lang Sports Management. Being a survivor from Decatur, Georgia I grew up around gang activity, violence and people that gravitated to the street life. Growing up in a single-parent home raised by my mother, my father passed away at a young age I had to have the discipline dedication motivation to know right and wrong not jeopardizing my career for the streets. The outlet for me and my siblings was sports. My mother did her best to keep us surrounded by positive influences with sports and football becoming an outlet for me and my brother. Instead of robbing stealing or joining a gang to survive football rescued me.
With the support of my mother, I had to find a way for us to have a better life and to break the generational curses in family by being her first child to earn an athletic scholarship and graduate with a degree from college. After being back home in 2015, I noticed every week on the news about gang violence murders robberies and other criminal activities still going on in the area I grew up. I linked up with a few like-minded individuals that felt like how I felt and came together to help soothe some of the heartache going on in our community. In 2015, I founded My Grind My Empire Sports a platform to help all kids from different walks of life to have positive mentors they look up to teaching life skills motivation and perseverance through adversity and to learn the rules, proper fundamentals and techniques of football. We have helped over 100+ athletes over the years with life skills, mentoring, positional football training and earning academic and athletic scholarships to college. We also partner with local organizations with the same impact hosting workshops camps and events exposing our youth to professional athletes and successful business men and women in the community that made it out the same environments as them. My passion is working with kids especially my own providing them resources and an outlet to become successful living a righteous life.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being a pillar in my community hasn’t been an easy road. It’s just like any other business you have to be prepared for the highs and lows you to persevere and never quit despite failing more times than being successful. I can remember first starting out picking up kids who lived in a local hotel providing them with life skills, food, school supplies, clothes and fitness training for free for almost a year. I’ve had sessions where only one kid would show up for training to having 30+ I always worked with one kid as if I had 30 everybody gets the same energy.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a former professional athlete that works with the youth in the Greater Atlanta area & state of Georgia with mentoring/life skills positional football training, coach and educator. I’m known for being a positive influencer helping men women and youth with life skills, positional & fitness training along with resources to help those in need. I’m one of many Kings providing great work in the community but what separates me is my network, experiences and knowledge from people and places football has taken me. Making it to the NFL is one of my proud moments and being able to show a kid that was like me growing up what it takes to overcome adversity and live a better life is the ultimate goal. I also share the Do’s and Dont’s of being a collegiate student-athlete and how to have a prosperous professional career. 0.01% makes it to the Pros and our goal is to increase that number with degrees in hand.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’ll have a host of great mentors, coaches and teammates that helped keep me inspired and motivated from My wife & family, Mr. Arden Key Sr, Mr. Willie Edwards, Coach Turks, Coach Chris Parker II, Coach Wayne Jones, Coach Brian Lamar, Ms.Jennifer Williams Donavan’s Dream Food Bank, Glen Ford I Dare U Football Academy, Mrs. Patrice & Debbie Hearts to Nourish Hope and Mr. Bill Nelson MVP Productions. My college teammates Jonathan Massaquoi former Atl Falcon and Tampa Bay Bucs Super Bowl Champ, Steve McLendon. These are the people that go to war for me and I’ll do the same for them. Always there to support me good and bad believed in me and the vision and we all come together collectively with same passion and goals to impact our communities.
Pricing:
- $35 a session for positional and personal fitness training
- Any donations to donavansdream.org to help provide food and clothing for needed families
- $10 youth kids positional and personal fitness training
Contact Info:
- Email: Mygrindmyempiresports@gmail
- Website: Mygrindmyempiresports.com and Donavansdream.org
- Instagram: Mygrindmyempiresports_d1
- Facebook: Brandon Lang
- Twitter: LangRedBlacks
