VALRICO, FLA -- Charles Montgomery wears his heart on his sleeve. He wears his grief there too. On one arm, names of his aunts who passed away from breast cancer. On the other, a nod to his younger sister killed by a drunk driver, the prayer he would read to her every night.

“Now I lay me down to sleep”

“A lot of deaths in my family, but I’ve been working through it,” Montgomery said.

One way the Bloomingdale High sophomore works through it is on the football field.

“Football is just where I can let all my anger out and all my tensions,” Montgomery said. “It’s just something I can release all the stress from in my life. I love the sport of football because I can just leave all that stress and depression on the field. You know, it doesn’t get to my head as much.”

Instead, Montgomery gets in the heads of his opponents. One of the top offensive players in the Bay Area, he’s got Bloomingdale poised for big things. The Bulls are on track for their third-straight winning season, a first in school history.

“As a whole, our program is pretty tight knit and really excited about what we’re doing,” Bulls head coach Max Warner said.

“We’ll fight for each other, we’ll do anything for each other,” Montgomery said. “Brotherhood is the word for it cause every last one of them are like my brothers.”

 An extended family that means everything to Montgomery because he’s lost so many members.  But you’d never know of his loss by the look on his face.

“He’s just one of those personalities that can light up a room when he walks in. When you see Charles smile, it’s a good thing.”

Just like football, the Consulate Care nursing home in Brandon provides a refuge for Montgomery, a place he can surround himself with family.

“It’s a smile on their face every time,” he said. “That’s why I love to do what I do. I love to do what I do.”

Montgomery volunteers his time, not to beef up a resume, but to be that bright light in someone’s day, a shoulder to lean on.

“I just want to be that person that feels like family every time I come there,” he said. “That’s how I want everyone to feel when I come there. I just want to leave a mark cause you never know what can happen.”

Montgomery knows better than most how unpredictable life can be, but he’s doing all he can to control his destiny.

“Football’s my way out,” Montgomery said, “so I gotta do what I gotta do.”