Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Zamani Feelings
The Road Less Traveled
5.22.19 | Football
Take a ride on the New Jersey Turnpike. It's a 117-mile trek spanning across as many as a dozen lanes (at certain points) stretching nearly from the very north and east of the state to the very south and west. It is easily one of the most traveled thoroughfares in the country linking two of the nation's biggest cities – New York and Philadelphia. Thousands embark on that road every hour. Not many have the story to tell that Sean Chandler has.
Recently, Owlsports.com traveled up the Turnpike to catch up with the man Temple Owls fans know as "Champ."
Chandler made the trip north about a year ago. He finished his athletic career at Temple University in Philadelphia and was offered an undrafted free agent contract with the New York Giants. Chandler's story is one of resiliency, determination, and preservation.
The 23-year old said he learned that resiliency at Temple. "Things weren't always peaches and cream at Temple – record-wise, playing-wise, coaches leaving, coaches coming. Keep your head down, keep fighting and keep grinding."
That's a very modest outlook for someone who grew up in a shelter in Camden, N.J. The fact is, he came to Temple battle-tested but raised his game on the North Philadelphia campus. To date he is the only player who has earned one of Temple's coveted single-digit jerseys as a freshman. An honored tradition awarded to the toughest players on the team, Chandler held onto the number "3" for his entire career.
When asked about the most influential people in his life at Temple he quickly listed Francis Brown, Haason Reddick and Matt Rhule. Chandler first met Brown, a fellow Camden native, at a Pop Warner football game when he was 10. "He gave a speech at halftime and from then on I would always hear about him. 'He's in the NFL, he's doing this, he's doing that.' He was everything I thought of as someone to look up to as a big role model. It didn't stop after high school, it went into college, and he's like my big brother."
Of Reddick, another Camden native, a Temple teammate and currently a member of the Arizona Cardinals, he said, "We basically grew up together. He's a big inspiration to me with everything that he's doing in the NFL."
Chandler added about Rhule, his head coach at Temple, "He's a big inspiration to me. Just the way he connects to his players…The way he coaches; his style of coaching. He's always willing to give a lending hand."
He didn't stop there. It should be noted that when the NFL came calling, Chandler was still 12 credits shy of his undergraduate degree. He stayed the course and officially graduated from Temple last week. "I don't know where I'd be without Paris [Williams, Temple's senior learning specialist]. She helped me excel in school, with school work and helped me open up and start going to go talk with professors; things that I didn't have to do in high school I had to do in college to get ahead. Justin [Miller, senior associate AD/academics and career services] and [former Temple academic advisor] Emily DeRatt, they definitely helped me on the academic side."
"Graduating was very meaningful to both me and my mom," said Chandler. "She always stayed in my ear that education was important and they can never take that away. Me knowing that I will not be able to play in the NFL forever, at some point I will have to go and do something else. Going back to get my degree was something big for me and I just had to go and get it done."
Graduation was also important for Chandler, who hopes to be the type of role model for other Camden kids that Brown was for him. "Where I come from not a lot of people go to college. For me to go back and graduate and for the younger guys to see that, I hope I'm an inspiration for a lot of kids growing up."
Chandler not only hopes to be an inspiration from afar but plans to return to Camden one day to work with the area's youth. "As a kinesiology major, I soon hope to be a strength and conditioning coach and I want to open up my own gym. I want to give kids the extra workouts that I didn't have growing up because I didn't have a gym that I could go to. I will be able to give them that knowledge that they need – Olympic style lifting – that would make them more explosive. Things like that that I didn't have and now can give back to my city."
For now though, he intends to focus on being an NFL player. "I want to be hands on and speak to the kids, so it probably would not happen until after I complete my NFL career."
Chandler is relying on becoming a better NFL player due to some of the things he learned while at Temple. His film study became legendary to the point that Rhule and other coaches, had to throw Chandler out of Edberg-Olson Hall late at night.
"Football doesn't stop after the coaches leave," said Chandler. "Watching film was the biggest thing that helped me become the player I am today. It gives you the step ahead on the field. My coaches at Temple taught me how to study film so I thought I was a step ahead [when I got to the NFL]. But you never know everything, so there is always room to grow and build and develop."
Still, as an undrafted rookie free agent, Chandler didn't feel completely comfortable until the final roster cuts were made. "Going through camp I felt like everything was normal but that last day when everyone was getting cut that was a nerve-racking day. After I made the team I knew I still had to grind it out and keep pushing every single day like I did at Temple."
One thing that's changed for Chandler, though, is his awareness that his personal story can be an inspiration to others. He was often hesitant to talk about his upbringing sometimes due to shyness and sometimes embarrassment. He has since come to terms with his story.
Earlier this week at The Plaza Hotel in New York City, Chandler was given the "Live Like a Champion Award" by the Institute for Community Living for his "work to improve people's lives and provide inspiration." Among the things they listed were his significant contributions to the New York community by hosting local youth at training camp; attending a day of play for Lyndhurst's Special Angels Challenger Program and the high school football team; dressing up for Halloween to visit the children at Hackensack University Medical Center; coaching a football clinic for the Cardinal Hayes High School football team at the Giants' practice facility; and serving lunch during Thanksgiving week to Big Blue's neighbors at Eva's Kitchen in Paterson.
"I don't think I would be able to get that award unless I play in the NFL," acknowledged Chandler. "The Giants pushed my story out there and a lot of people saw it. I give back because I want to be an inspiration to someone who might have been in my shoes when I was a younger kid or going through something that could be ten times worse. I'd like to give them faith that they can fulfill their goals like I fulfilled my goal to be in the NFL."
"To get the award was big but like I said in my speech that night, I turned the light onto my mom, Latanya Woodson, because it showed how strong a woman she was to raise me and give me everything I needed to be everything that I wanted to be. She never held me back she always gave me words of encouragement every single day, even though she was going through things of her own. She's just a strong lady."
Before heading off to watch more film, Chandler reflected on some special moments that occurred for him on the south side of the New Jersey Turnpike.
He has been fortunate enough to play many games at Lincoln Financial Field for the hometown Temple Owls and one for the the visiting New York Giants. "When we played the Eagles there it felt good to be home. The whole week building up, going out there, the weather was great and I just felt at home."
"With the stands full, I had almost the same feeling as when we played Notre Dame in 2015. The only difference was that the Notre Dame game had ESPN's College Game Day and that had a lot of buzz, a lot of hype, a lot of buildup – more than an NFL game."
He then confirmed, "Having the Linc filled with Temple fans for Notre Dame made that atmosphere more exciting than it felt as a New York Giant."
Just like those before him, Chandler knows the more he impresses the Giants, the more Temple players will be invited to NFL camps. Along with Tavon Young (Baltimore, 2016), Nate Hairston (Indianapolis, 2017), and Rock Ya-Sin (Indianapolis, 2019), Temple has placed one defensive back into the NFL in each of the past four seasons.
"That lets you know what type of guys are at Temple. Tough, gritty guys who work hard every day and do things behind the scenes. I feel like that's what the NFL is all about. Doing the little things that everybody won't do. Everybody on this level is talented; you have to do the extra things. That's what the Temple guys are gonna do when they reach this level."
Recently, Owlsports.com traveled up the Turnpike to catch up with the man Temple Owls fans know as "Champ."
Chandler made the trip north about a year ago. He finished his athletic career at Temple University in Philadelphia and was offered an undrafted free agent contract with the New York Giants. Chandler's story is one of resiliency, determination, and preservation.
The 23-year old said he learned that resiliency at Temple. "Things weren't always peaches and cream at Temple – record-wise, playing-wise, coaches leaving, coaches coming. Keep your head down, keep fighting and keep grinding."
That's a very modest outlook for someone who grew up in a shelter in Camden, N.J. The fact is, he came to Temple battle-tested but raised his game on the North Philadelphia campus. To date he is the only player who has earned one of Temple's coveted single-digit jerseys as a freshman. An honored tradition awarded to the toughest players on the team, Chandler held onto the number "3" for his entire career.
When asked about the most influential people in his life at Temple he quickly listed Francis Brown, Haason Reddick and Matt Rhule. Chandler first met Brown, a fellow Camden native, at a Pop Warner football game when he was 10. "He gave a speech at halftime and from then on I would always hear about him. 'He's in the NFL, he's doing this, he's doing that.' He was everything I thought of as someone to look up to as a big role model. It didn't stop after high school, it went into college, and he's like my big brother."
Of Reddick, another Camden native, a Temple teammate and currently a member of the Arizona Cardinals, he said, "We basically grew up together. He's a big inspiration to me with everything that he's doing in the NFL."
Chandler added about Rhule, his head coach at Temple, "He's a big inspiration to me. Just the way he connects to his players…The way he coaches; his style of coaching. He's always willing to give a lending hand."
He didn't stop there. It should be noted that when the NFL came calling, Chandler was still 12 credits shy of his undergraduate degree. He stayed the course and officially graduated from Temple last week. "I don't know where I'd be without Paris [Williams, Temple's senior learning specialist]. She helped me excel in school, with school work and helped me open up and start going to go talk with professors; things that I didn't have to do in high school I had to do in college to get ahead. Justin [Miller, senior associate AD/academics and career services] and [former Temple academic advisor] Emily DeRatt, they definitely helped me on the academic side."
"Graduating was very meaningful to both me and my mom," said Chandler. "She always stayed in my ear that education was important and they can never take that away. Me knowing that I will not be able to play in the NFL forever, at some point I will have to go and do something else. Going back to get my degree was something big for me and I just had to go and get it done."
Graduation was also important for Chandler, who hopes to be the type of role model for other Camden kids that Brown was for him. "Where I come from not a lot of people go to college. For me to go back and graduate and for the younger guys to see that, I hope I'm an inspiration for a lot of kids growing up."
Chandler not only hopes to be an inspiration from afar but plans to return to Camden one day to work with the area's youth. "As a kinesiology major, I soon hope to be a strength and conditioning coach and I want to open up my own gym. I want to give kids the extra workouts that I didn't have growing up because I didn't have a gym that I could go to. I will be able to give them that knowledge that they need – Olympic style lifting – that would make them more explosive. Things like that that I didn't have and now can give back to my city."
For now though, he intends to focus on being an NFL player. "I want to be hands on and speak to the kids, so it probably would not happen until after I complete my NFL career."
Chandler is relying on becoming a better NFL player due to some of the things he learned while at Temple. His film study became legendary to the point that Rhule and other coaches, had to throw Chandler out of Edberg-Olson Hall late at night.
"Football doesn't stop after the coaches leave," said Chandler. "Watching film was the biggest thing that helped me become the player I am today. It gives you the step ahead on the field. My coaches at Temple taught me how to study film so I thought I was a step ahead [when I got to the NFL]. But you never know everything, so there is always room to grow and build and develop."
Still, as an undrafted rookie free agent, Chandler didn't feel completely comfortable until the final roster cuts were made. "Going through camp I felt like everything was normal but that last day when everyone was getting cut that was a nerve-racking day. After I made the team I knew I still had to grind it out and keep pushing every single day like I did at Temple."
One thing that's changed for Chandler, though, is his awareness that his personal story can be an inspiration to others. He was often hesitant to talk about his upbringing sometimes due to shyness and sometimes embarrassment. He has since come to terms with his story.
Earlier this week at The Plaza Hotel in New York City, Chandler was given the "Live Like a Champion Award" by the Institute for Community Living for his "work to improve people's lives and provide inspiration." Among the things they listed were his significant contributions to the New York community by hosting local youth at training camp; attending a day of play for Lyndhurst's Special Angels Challenger Program and the high school football team; dressing up for Halloween to visit the children at Hackensack University Medical Center; coaching a football clinic for the Cardinal Hayes High School football team at the Giants' practice facility; and serving lunch during Thanksgiving week to Big Blue's neighbors at Eva's Kitchen in Paterson.
"I don't think I would be able to get that award unless I play in the NFL," acknowledged Chandler. "The Giants pushed my story out there and a lot of people saw it. I give back because I want to be an inspiration to someone who might have been in my shoes when I was a younger kid or going through something that could be ten times worse. I'd like to give them faith that they can fulfill their goals like I fulfilled my goal to be in the NFL."
"To get the award was big but like I said in my speech that night, I turned the light onto my mom, Latanya Woodson, because it showed how strong a woman she was to raise me and give me everything I needed to be everything that I wanted to be. She never held me back she always gave me words of encouragement every single day, even though she was going through things of her own. She's just a strong lady."
Before heading off to watch more film, Chandler reflected on some special moments that occurred for him on the south side of the New Jersey Turnpike.
He has been fortunate enough to play many games at Lincoln Financial Field for the hometown Temple Owls and one for the the visiting New York Giants. "When we played the Eagles there it felt good to be home. The whole week building up, going out there, the weather was great and I just felt at home."
"With the stands full, I had almost the same feeling as when we played Notre Dame in 2015. The only difference was that the Notre Dame game had ESPN's College Game Day and that had a lot of buzz, a lot of hype, a lot of buildup – more than an NFL game."
He then confirmed, "Having the Linc filled with Temple fans for Notre Dame made that atmosphere more exciting than it felt as a New York Giant."
Just like those before him, Chandler knows the more he impresses the Giants, the more Temple players will be invited to NFL camps. Along with Tavon Young (Baltimore, 2016), Nate Hairston (Indianapolis, 2017), and Rock Ya-Sin (Indianapolis, 2019), Temple has placed one defensive back into the NFL in each of the past four seasons.
"That lets you know what type of guys are at Temple. Tough, gritty guys who work hard every day and do things behind the scenes. I feel like that's what the NFL is all about. Doing the little things that everybody won't do. Everybody on this level is talented; you have to do the extra things. That's what the Temple guys are gonna do when they reach this level."
Players Mentioned
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