.Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, Staat began his football career playing as a Driller for Bakersfield High School. He would follow his high school years playing for Bakersfield College, subsequently landing himself a full ride scholarship to play for Arizona State University. During his years at ASU, Jeremy met good friend and teammate Pat Tillman, who, in later years, would come to be a great inspiration. The success of playing in college ultimately brought Staat to be picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1998 NFL Draft. Over the next few years, the hopeful athlete joined the likes of the the next few years, the hopeful athlete joined the likes of the Oakland Raiders and the St. Louis Rams.In 2004, after understand- ing the difficulties and rough realities of life as a professional football player, Staat came to a turn-ing point in his life. Unsure of what his next move would be, Jeremy was faced with the news of his dear friend Pat Tillman. His former teammate, who had left the NFL to join the Army, had been killed, during his tour of duty in Afghanistan.Left with overwhelming feelings and mixed emotions, Staat made the decision to leave his football career behind. In 2005, Jeremy committed himself to his country and to the United States Marine Corps. After only a few short years, Jeremy was de-ployed to Iraq. Upon arriving back to the states, medical conditions kept him from returning for a second tour. Although Staat could no longer physically dedicate himself to the Marine Corps and everything they stand for, he decided to express himself orally. From that point on, Jeremy decided to express himself orally. From that point on, Jeremy began motivational speaking across Kern County. Eager to inspire and ready to motivate, Staat came to realize the financial aspect often involved in motivational speaking. He felt it was necessary to “educate and put time into our youth,” at no cost. “Schools [are] paying a lot of money to have someone come out and [are] paying a lot of money to have someone come out and speak, when there are people willing to speak for free.” Staat spoke to the youth about what it is like to serve your country - what he referred to as “the ulti-mate sacrifice.” After speaking to young children across the county, Jeremy decided to create The Jeremy Staat Foundation. The foundation would create awareness to veterans and their needs. “It is irritating to see convicted criminals provided with services that veterans are not,” Staat explained. “There is something wrong with that.” In his quest to raise awareness, Jeremy partnered with fellow Iraqi war veteran Wesley Barrientos. Their goal: to ride their bikes from the Wall of Valor, located in downtown Bakers-field, to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. While riding a bike would prove to be quite a feat for any regular person, the 4,163 mile bike ride would be exceptionally diffi-cult for Barrientos, who suffered severe wounds on his tour in Iraq, leaving him to be a double leg amputee. Although the journey would be tough, Staat maintained the attitude of “the mission needed to be complete.”

Litalia YoakumBy:

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Cover Story

From NFL player to Marine to Iraqi war veteran, Jeremy Staat has lived quite a life.

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