Bigger Than Me

According to the NCAA, only 9 in 10,000 high school senior football players eventually play for the National Football League. Jovan Haye achieved that rare dream, despite overwhelming odds. Born in poverty, he immigrated to the U.S., lived in violent low-income neighborhoods, suffered abuse at home, and believed he was “a dumb kid” because of undiagnosed dyslexia and a host of dyslexia-related conditions. Then he discovered his gift for athletics. His success in team sports gave him confidence to face other challenges and to overcome his biggest obstacle of all – severe dyslexia. He became an honor roll student, graduated from Vanderbilt, and went on to play for seven years in the NFL. Bigger Than Me tells how he accessed the power that pushed him forward and allowed him to triumph on and off the playing field.

According to the NCAA, only 9 in 10,000 high school senior football players eventually play for the National Football League. Jovan Haye achieved that rare dream, despite overwhelming odds. Born in poverty, he immigrated to the U.S., lived in violent low-income neighborhoods, suffered abuse at home, and believed he was “a dumb kid” because of undiagnosed dyslexia and a host of dyslexia-related conditions. Then he discovered his gift for athletics. His success in team sports gave him confidence to face other challenges and to overcome his biggest obstacle of all – severe dyslexia. He became an honor roll student, graduated from Vanderbilt, and went on to play for seven years in the NFL. Now Jovan Haye is a husband, proud father, and the owner of a successful business. Bigger Than Me tells how he accessed the power that pushed him forward and allowed him to triumph on and off the playing field.

Jovan Haye is a former NFL defensive tackle who has lived with dyslexia his entire life. Though he did not start playing football until his junior year in high school, he earned first-team All-State honors as both a junior and a senior. He also graduated with a 4.5 grade point average and earned a scholarship to Vanderbilt University. During his college football career at Vanderbilt, he started every game but one, recorded excellent statistics, and was twice voted team captain. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He also played for the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, and Detroit Lions. This experience gave him intimate insider knowledge about the NFL, and it also spurred him to find solutions for his various dyslexia-related impediments. Currently, he is part-owner of postsharesell.com, an online exchange devoted to serving businesses and consumers. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife and two daughters.