"The Struggle" That Made Brian Coulter
Published on April 6, 2012 under Arena Football League (AFL)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release
NEW ORLEANS (April 6, 2012) - There are many roads that have lead men to professional football. The road New Orleans VooDoo defensive end Brian Coulter took was filled with struggles that would make any normal man turn back; however, Brian Coulter is not normal and neither is his story.
Coulter's troubled childhood included his father's murder when he was only three and a mother whose addictions caused her to lose her parental rights over him and his siblings when he was only 10. This led to him being separated from his brother and sister and placed in numerous foster care and group homes across the state of Louisiana.
These events eventually plagued Coulter, and when he was 14 his social workers realized it was time he got true help. Coulter was placed in an 18-month treatment program that was specifically designed to help each child with their unique situations.
"When I got there the lady asked me what I wanted to do," Coulter said of his first day at the center. "I told her 'I want to play football.'"
It was this dream that helped him through the difficult program. Coulter initially struggled with the requirements that forced him to face his past through writing and share his emotions with people he had just met. He calculated, however, that if he finished the program in the scheduled 18 months, a rare feat according to his counselor, he would be released in time for football season his freshman year. This served as motivation to turn his early struggles into comfort and, to the surprise of many around him, completed the program on time. After his success, his reward awaited him on a football field in Baton Rouge.
Coulter's new group home allowed him a lot of freedoms that he was not used to.
"It was like a young Frat House," Coulter recalled. He used most of his freedom to focus on football. The upcoming season would be the first Coulter had ever played football, and though he was a slender 175 pounds, he quickly picked up on the game.
The summer between his freshman and sophomore year he gained 40 pounds of muscle. He quickly began turning heads with his play on Friday nights including that of Mitch Jackson, an uncle of one of Coulter's teammates. After hearing of Coulter's Group Home living situation, Jackson gave his number to him after a game one night and told him to call if he ever needed anything - not knowing that the numbers on that paper would one day be used to change his life, he set them aside in his room.
The following year, when a neighborhood petition shut down the group home he was living in, Coulter was being forced to move back to New Orleans or find a place to stay in Baton Rouge.
Not having any family in Baton Rouge, Coulter thought he would soon be heading back to New Orleans. He began cleaning his room and preparing for his move.
"As I cleaned up I found this paper with all of Mitch's numbers on it," Coulter said. And after realizing he had no other option, he picked up the phone and called.
"The first time I talked to the guy on the phone I told him I needed to move in," Coulter recalled. "He didn't even hesitate. He just asked when I needed to move in."
The Jackson's opened up there home to him, and the only thing they asked him in return was that he gets a college degree. Despite his best efforts, a course that he had failed to get a credit for his freshman year kept him from graduating.
The dozens of letters he had hanging on his wall from Division 1 schools meant nothing without a high school diploma, and on the night of his graduation, Coulter was forced to sit at work while his classmates walked across the stage. He sat there thinking his dream was over.
A few months later, hope came in the form of Pearl River Community College. The Pearl River coach informed him that despite his lack of a diploma, they had a spot on their team for him, and Coulter's dream and promise to the Jackson's had new life.
He became a standout player at PRCC. He lead the team in sacks his freshman year and succeeded in the classroom as well. His play eventually earned him a scholarship at his dream school, Florida State, but after a cheating scandal forced the football team to cut five scholarships, one of them Coulter's, he was back where he started.
A long search and a year off eventually led him to the Big 12 to play for Missouri.
"I had never really heard too much about that school," Coulter said. "In Louisiana you don't watch a lot of Big 12 North football."
But Mizzou had heard of him, and when they got wind that he was just sitting around not playing, they jumped on the opportunity to sign him.
Coulter's football road did not end at Mizzou. He has been involved in Professional Football since he completed college, and his Journey has most recently landed him in the city where it all began, New Orleans.
A tattoo on his neck that says "The Struggle" is a constant reminder of what it took him to get here and how having help along the way made it possible.
"I know a lot of people out there, especially a lot of younger guys that may be going through some of the similar things that I went through," Coulter explained. "And just like me at one point and time felt it was just them going through it and nobody else. I look at it as if maybe they are reading my story it might help them out a little more."
Sometimes a little help is all it takes because in the journey of life; everyone's road has its fair share of bumps and struggles.
The VooDoo (1-2) host the Tampa Bay Storm (2-1) on "NET10 Arena Football Friday" live on NFL Network this Friday, April 6. Rocco and the VooDoo will be looking for the team's first home win since 2008. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
Arena Football League Stories from April 6, 2012
- Storm fall to Voodoo 66-47 - Tampa Bay Storm
- Power Falls at Home to Iowa - Pittsburgh Power
- Barnstormes Blackout Power 55-42 - Iowa Barnstormers
- Orlando Predators Travel to Cleveland to Take on the Gladiators - Orlando Predators
- New Orleans' Jackson Named Week 5 National Guard Community MVP - AFL
- Blaze Launches Stay Active, Stay Strong Program - Utah Blaze
- "The Struggle" That Made Brian Coulter - New Orleans VooDoo
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