Former Chicago Bears player and Florida State football player Freddie Stevenson says he’s done with football and has started a clothing line.
- Former NFL player Freddie Stevenson starts clothing line
- Triumph 105 launched online on June 8
- Stevenson wants to change the narrative and inspire kids
The Florida State graduate signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He attended training camp and played in four preseason games. Then the fullback’s childhood dream came crashing down. The team cut him right before regular season.
"They just told me they thought I had a future in the league but they had to roll with the veteran in that situation," Stevenson said.
He worked out with six teams after the 2017 season. None of them gave him a contract. He then played for the Orlando Apollo, a developmental team that was part of the Alliance of American Football.
"I was just confident," Stevenson said. "I was having a great camp. I was like I know I’m going to get back into the league…Everything looking up. Then when they let me go I said man I’m just done with this. I can’t keep going through this."
According to Stevenson, part of the issue was a lot of professional football teams were getting away from using fullbacks. Stevenson thought it’d be too difficult to transition to a different position considering he didn’t have a tape of him playing a different position to give to teams.
Devastated, he had to figure out what was next for his life. Maybe football wasn’t the answer.
"In life you got to learn when to move on. It doesn’t mean you failed. Just understanding its time to move on to bigger and better," Stevenson said.
That’s when he decided to create Triumph 105. It entails a clothing line and motivational speaking. He debuted the clothing line online on June 8.
He hopes one of his shirts, "the American Dream," will inspire kids growing up in the inner city, to aspire to be something other than rappers, athletes and entertainers.
"If you not playing ball, if you not rapping, if you not drug dealing in the city, they don’t really respect you so you have to change that narrative," Stevenson said.
He plans to change the narrative through speaking to youngsters. He said he’ll share how he overcame poverty, homelessness, and a brief stint of his father being away in prison, along with his short stint in the NFL.
Stevenson hopes it’ll inspire others to triumph against any challenge they face.