Unbreakable III - Derrick Barker

Hello Friends…. Sorry that was my inner Joe Rogan. We are going to embark on a slightly different route. Derrick Barker life was on a slightly smoother route than my first two Unbreakables. Not without its own twists and turns, just a few less bumps (based on the stories I was able to find) then some of the others.

He should be admired and appreciated for what he has been able to accomplish in his life at a young age. It still amazes me that he has done SO much and he is BARELY over 30. What he just started doing, would be a lifetime achievement for most. HELL what he did in his first 3 years out college would have been a lifetime achievement for me.

You know what.. I am not giving him all that credit.. I AM NOT. I am gonna sprinkle a little HATERADE on his party.. I have PROOF of my drive. You wanna know how. I just passed 120k miles on my 2005 Camry.. HA. Take that Derrick Barker.. That is the 2nd car that I have hit over 100k miles on. And you questioned my drive.. DO YOU. I have been more miles than you son. Bet I have visited more Gas stations than you did too. Any time you want to compare stats with me.. I GOT YOU HOMEY…

Now that we have gotten that covered. Back to the story of Derrick Barker’s football life. Here comes something that proves he is an anomaly.. something the CTE crowd will cringe at: Derrick began playing football at 4. Here is a black youth stat. His mother died when he was young. And, similar to Zach and Tony, his life could have been completely different. His dad was an Air Force commander and although I was unable to find any news on his dad's broader influence, I am sure he was the light down that right path. Hell I added some of the dad’s stats , who is rather ambitious himself…

As I like to do, I will start with the dessert (Here are some CTE defying stats.. Since according to reports he should have been in a catatonic state by the time he was 20 since he was playing football since he was 4. If you read the below and still think that, well.. ).

Derrick Barker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-barker-3b1590a/)

Attended and graduated from Harvard 2006-2010

Co Founder of Veritas Financial Group at Harvard

Goldman Sachs – Fixed Income Trader

Civitas Communities Principal owner (https://www.civitascommunities.com/)

Civitas Communities is an Atlanta-based real estate investment firm founded by three Harvard alumni in 2010. Our mission is to increase the housing supply for working- and middle-class buyers, renters, and travelers by building and preserving safe, attractive, and affordable communities. To date, we have acquired and rehabbed over 1,000+ apartment units and managed a third-party portfolio with an asset valuation of more than $250M+.

Principal Owner Domos

Yeah.. Surely he is an underachiever.

Here are some sprinkles on the dessert

High School -

Three-year letter winner and starter in football at Westlake HS ...

Captained football, wrestling and track and field teams at Westlake.

Member and coach of the school's robotics club

Co-founder of the financial literary club.

The cherry on top is his Dad. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-barker-44131348/)

He was retired Air Force and Division Officer. Graduate from Morehouse where he also played football and had a BS in Banking/Finance. His dad also has a Master Degree where he had a 4.0 GPA, He is a President of one company and Founder of another company. Talk about Fruit not falling far from the Tree.

Derrick credits many of his successes and his drive to football. When asked by the Crimson, the Harvard news magazine ,Derrick said the following

Football has prepared me in so many ways that I cannot cover that question in this space. I have been playing football since I was four years old so it is an ingrained part of my identity. Of all of the many lessons that football has taught me though, there are a few that have helped me a lot through the past years. First, life isn't fair and it doesn't care about your excuses. Everyone has 1,000 reasons why they should fail. You may be held or you may have slipped or you may have a really sore ankle but the only thing that matters at the end of the game is did you make the play and win, or did your opponent? That mindset helps me to push myself further and to do more in school and in extracurricular activities. In football, in school, in business, in everything - I know that I have to outwork my opponents every day so that when the time comes, regardless of the adversity I may be facing, I am prepared to make plays.

I am happy that I was able to read from his own words what football meant to him. Many times it gets translated to us from coaches and other sources, but looking at what he was able to accomplish with his life, I think it is profound that he was able persevere to the degree that he was able to. For a black youth to reach such heights is more than impressive cause so many of my players that are black can name all the obstacles in their way as if none are supposed to exist.

He is undoubtedly incredibly smart and based on his multiple startups, that he is more than an above average drive.(Did I mention how much more drive I have.. umm scroll up ..lol) . But so many black kids believe that they have a huge weight on their backs. But to quote Derrick, life is not fair, nor did he allow the normal challenges of life hold him back. I know that I will share this with my ball players that anything is possible. I can only assume , based on Derricks words, that the football mentality only helped to keep him going. With all the CTE talk of how it debilitates you, it Is often rarely mentioned what football DOES for the mental. For the ones that embrace it, which after coaching as long as I have, I know not all kids go that route… But they have to be in it to win it. And it not always the star players that get that message. Some of my players that never said a word are the ones that are doing the best professionally. And the one thing that they say is, the lessons that they learned from the X number of years they played, helped to put them on the right path.

The key is, all roads are bumpy. What will help you get over them mentally is that football mentality. Can Derrick or anyone do it without football? Of course. But so many young MEN, black, white, Hispanic , do not have that guidance. Do not see that light. I hope reading about Derrick will provide that spark… that leads to a light.. that leads to a bright future.

My Unbreakable III Thank you Mr. Derrick Barker