Courtesy Corey LeBlanc, The Casket

When Kwame Osei receives his X-ring, it will be a milestone he would never have envisioned just a few years ago.

It’s certainly a long way from being held at gunpoint.

“To this day, I still don’t know how I came out alive,” Osei said.

The fourth-year StFX student-athlete has also been stabbed, sustaining wounds to his chin and right eyebrow.  “I’ve seen people dead on the ground from knife and gun violence,” he added.  Osei said he has had several “near death experiences” growing up.
 
“They all add up and let me know I am here for a reason.”
 
Osei grew up in Rexdale, a neighbourhood located in the northwest corner of Toronto. In an area where young men are often as likely to spend time in jail as finish high school and for most getting a university degree would be just a dream.
 
“It has one of the highest percentages of violence and gang activity in Canada,” the X-Men football hybrid back (half fullback, half receiver) said of his hometown.
 
Unlike many young people in his neighbourhood, Osei had a mother and father at home, who loved him and taught him “right from wrong.” Nevertheless, Osei started down the wrong path growing up, finding role models in those who patrolled and often controlled the local streets.
 
“I started to follow my friends and do what they were doing.
 
“I was like a lot of kids who emulate what they think may be cool,” Osei added.
 
In Rexdale, Osei said young people see the drug dealer who has a nice car, lots of money and girls by his side. “There are so many young people who have no other role models, who say they are going to be like him,” Osei said.
 
With those people to look up to Osei said he and his friends often had lowered expectations. “Growing up, I didn’t think I would ever be in university. I didn’t think about anything past high school.
 
“I just went to school because my parents made me go. I stayed in school but I skipped a lot,” he added.

Change comes slowly
 
Osei said several things helped him change his life, including his love for football. But, change did not happen quickly. There were still some bumps in the road.
 
“I would never have been here [without football],” he said. Although Osei played in high school, his level of dedication was lacking.
 
“In the off-season, I would never train while all of my friends took it seriously and worked hard.
 
“I used to still hang out with the bad crowd and do stupid stuff,” he said. After high school, Osei moved to Montreal to attend Vanier College.
 
“That was one of the first steps. I finally realized that I could really do well at football,” he remembered.
 
In his second year at the college, life and not an opponent tackled the speedy offensive player. Osei’s 28-year-old cousin Gilbert, who had a history of gang activity, died of lung cancer, leaving behind two young daughters.
 
“It started to open my eyes about what I should do with my life. At that time, I was just doing things for the sake of doing them, including football,” Osei said.
 
Even though Gilbert was often in trouble, including several stints in prison over the decade before his death, Osei said his cousin was his role model. “My mom did not want me hanging around with him. He had a bad reputation.”
 
His cousin also served as a protector. No one messed with Gilbert. “When he died, I realized he didn’t really do anything with his life except for being the father of two little girls,” Osei said.
 
When he died, Osei said Gilbert was trying to change. “I focused on doing the things that he couldn’t do,” Osei added.
 
A change in attitude – adjusting everything he learned growing up in Rexdale – would not happen overnight. Maturity and focus did not come easily, Osei admitted. Little did he know much of the change in his life would take place in small town Nova Scotia.

Wake-up call
 
“The funny thing is when I came on my recruiting trip I said there is no way I am coming back here,” Osei laughed, describing his attitude as a “Toronto mentality.”
 
“I lived in Montreal as well so I was used to the big cities.

“I went to the [Piper’s] Pub and wondered ‘what the heck is this?’”
 
Osei described the entire experience as a “culture shock.” He added his now X-Men team-mate Akeem Foster, who also made the recruiting trip, “loved it.”
 
“He was preaching to me about coming here. He was on-board from the first day,” Osei said.
 
At the time, Osei was sure StFX was not going to be his next stop. He was considering offers from UBC and Concordia, along with options from a couple of NCAA Division II schools.
 
Still undecided, a conversation with a former high school team-mate [and former X-Man] Travis Noel helped change his mind. “He said we should go to the same school. He convinced me to come here. It was because of him,” Osei said.
 
Although he missed the first few games because of a torn meniscus, Osei said his first season went well. Nevertheless, he added he still lacked focus. “Let’s just say I wasn’t the guy I am today when I first got here.
 
“Even though I was trying to change, I still had the mentality I had growing up. I was still involved with a lot of things I shouldn’t have been,” Osei said.
 
Things peaked during the second semester of his first year. “I did something I shouldn’t have done and I basically told myself I cannot screw this up,” he said. Osei punched someone, damaging his right hand.
 
“I had to have surgery. They thought they would have to amputate it,” he said while rubbing the damaged area.
 
Shortly after that incident, Osei was involved in an accident. He was a passenger in a car that rolled off a ramp along a steep section of highway. “We fell off, flipped over and landed upside down. There was broken glass everywhere.
 
“But, nothing happened to me. I did not have a scratch on my body,” Osei said.
 
Although he said he is not religious but possesses a “deep faith,” Osei said the brush with mortality made him think God was watching over him. “It made me realize I was supposed to be doing something with my life.
 
Through it all, Osei said friendships, including with his roommates [and team-mates] Cauchy Muamba, Kwasi Nkansah, Jonathan Hood and Henoc Muamba, helped a great deal. He started going to church more and changing his way of life. From there Osei became more focussed athletically and academically.
 
Osei also switched to X’s human kinetics program. “I started to realize I needed to be about more than just a football.
 
“I don’t want to be just a football player. I want people to see me as more than that,” he added.

Maturity and devotion
 
The changes in Osei since his arrival at StFX have not gone unnoticed. X-Men football head coach Gary Waterman described his veteran player as a “fine young man.”
 
“It is nice to see how much he has matured as a person,” the first-year head coach said. Waterman added Osei’s development and maturation is what coming to a university such as StFX is all about.
 
“I believe the very nature of a university like StFX allows for individuals to find themselves, grow and become better citizens.” Waterman said Osei is a giving person who has become a community role model.
 
“He has been involved in numerous charitable events and has devoted countless hours towards helping others.”

StFX director of athletics and recreational services Leo MacPherson said he has witnessed Osei’s development as a student, an athlete and a person. “StFX has provided him a platform to test and enhance his skills and talents both on and off the field and he has taken full advantage of it,” MacPherson said.
 
The X athletic director said Osei has excelled in a number of roles, including as co-chair of the school’s varsity athletes’ council. Osei is also one of the creators of X Athletes for Charity, a group of student-athletes who host annual fundraisers.

Going home
 
When he returns to Rexdale, Osei said he focuses a great deal of his time working with children, including talking to students at his former elementary school. “I try to help them out and to have an impact on their lives. They are probably looking up to people who are like my cousin or me when I was young.
 
“I want to show them there is more to life. There is more than just what happens on the streets of Rexdale that they can be part of,” he added. Osei suggested young people from his community can relate to his story.
 
”Even if I am able to touch one student, it will be worth it,” he said.
 
Back home, many of his childhood friends are gone – victims of violence or spending time in prison. For those who remain, he soon realized he had to change the people in his circle of friends. “It was hard at first because they were my friends. I still talk with them, but I realized I could not hang out with them.
 
“It’s okay now. I have a new group of friends,” Osei added.

Honouring Gilbert
 
After graduating this spring, Osei hopes to get a shot at playing in the Canadian Football League. If that doesn’t happen, he would like to spend a year travelling in Europe or start work on his education degree.
 
“I want to teach and coach or do something fitness related.
 
“I don’t know where I will end up, whether it is back in Toronto or not, but I know I want to work with young people and help as much as I can in my community,” Osei said.
 
Wherever he ends up or whatever he does, Osei will carry his cousin Gilbert’s memory with him. When he receives his X-ring, it will be engraved with his cousin’s initials. “I hope one day I can go to his kids and tell them about the impact he had on my life. I want them to know their father was a good man, even though he did a lot of bad stuff. He loved his family and tried to take care of them,” Osei said.
 
When he goes home, Osei said he makes sure he visits Gilbert’s grave. He fills his cousin in on what’s going on in  his life. “I want to make him proud. I don’t think I have succeeded yet, but when it is all said and done I think I will reach that goal,” Osei concluded.