Did you know that students who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to develop an alcohol dependency? Perfectly timed with this weekend’s Super Bowl event, former NFL football players spoke to GAC high school students on Wednesday about this statistic, urging them to take a pledge of alcohol and drug abstinence.

“I believe today that one of the biggest things that is ruining your generation is drugs and alcohol… When you are passionate about your life, you are willing to surround yourself with the right people and be intentional about your life,” said Roman Gabriel III, a former football player for the Oakland Raiders.

Gabriel is president of the Sold Out organization, which travels around the country to deliver faith-based leadership and abstinence messages to students. Former Atlanta Falcon football player and NFC Champion Wide Receiver Terance Mathis also addressed the crowd of students. Mathis described a trajectory to the NFL that began with people telling him over and over again that he was “too small” to play football. He persevered and said that “God had a plan for me all that time. I just didn’t know it yet.” He urged the Spartan students to think for themselves when making choices: “Sometimes you need to stand alone. Sometimes you need to separate yourself from other people in order to do what’s right for you.”