Surrounded by an audience erupting in cheers, John Emery and Shamarr Moses got the news straight from Saints’ defensive end Cameron Jordan – they were headed to the Super Bowl.
The two were surprised by the gesture during their appearance last month on the nationally syndicated Tamron Hall Show, where their shared story was featured. Emery has mentored Moses for more than a decade, and his guidance over the years has helped the latter grow from a troubled boy to a young man now pursuing his dreams – and well on his way to achieving them.
“Read the football,” Hall said with a smile, as she and Jordan handed a ball with a message inscribed to Emery.
“You’re going to the Super Bowl,” Emery said as a huge smile and look of surprise came across Moses’ face as the two were presented with tickets to the big game.
Moses, a former Hahnville High School football standout is a huge Saints fan, and the unannounced appearance of Jordan to greet them came as surprise enough before adding the chance to go to the Super Bowl.
Moses called the entire experience a dream come true.
“It means so much to me. To be able to get up on national TV and tell our story, that’s outstanding in itself. And the fact it can motivate people who are just like you, that opportunity doesn’t come around often. Then Cameron Jordan came up and – I’m a huge Saints fan, so to be there talking to Cameron Jordan right next to me on television, it’s just a dream. It still feels unreal.”
But the Super Bowl will simply be the latest stop on the journey shared by Emery and Moses – mentor and pupil – and one that’s forged an unbreakable bond between them.
Emery has spent most of his life as a mentor and child advocate, following in the footsteps of his own mentor Benjamin Parquet. For Emery, it’s a calling and a passion that began when he was just 15 years old. Now at age 51, he’s worked for many years with the nonprofit Youth Empowerment Project to help children day after day.
Moses, in so many ways, is the embodiment of Emery’s life’s work.
He attends Nicholls State University, where he’s made the President’s List. He majors in mass communications and has an eye on sports reporting in the future. He works with WGNO in New Orleans.
“Knowing what he went through when I met him … it’s just amazing to see him where he is,” Emery said.
Moses was just 12 when Emery began working with him.
“He was full of questions,” Emery said. “He needed to know that four plus four equals eight, but he didn’t know how to present it.”
Moses was causing trouble in school and some saw a child who wouldn’t make it in life. Emery saw a child who simply needed guidance.
It was rocky at first.
“’What is this man gonna do for me?’ That’s what he told his mom in the courthouse,” Emery said.
“He stayed in trouble. I was getting calls for him at school. Not saying he was a bad kid, but he just needed a little more help.”
Early on, Moses noted to Emery that he wanted to get serious about playing football.
“He got me top of the line equipment … told me, this is for you, I just want you to take advantage of this opportunity,” Moses said. “But so much more than anything material, he went out of his way, calling me, checking on me, asking me about practice, what I’m working on, if I’m satisfied … I realized, this man really cares about me.
“Everything that he recommended, all the advice he gave me, I did those things and I saw that they worked.”
Emery recalled those days fondly.
“For football, it’s cleats. If a kid says he’s interested in band, I’m going to try my hardest to get them in band. If they’re interested in drawing, I’m going to get him his art equipment. Then I’m going to get you the resources to teach you more about it.
With Shamarr, he wanted to play football. I took him to the Ed Reed Camp and it grew from there.”
Moses took off. He made the football team – then rose to become one of its leaders, ultimately a team captain who starred at both outside and inside linebacker for the Tigers. He joined the school’s Beta Club and was believing in himself more and more.
“From a child who didn’t have a father figure, I can’t even fully describe (what Emery has meant to him),” Moses said. “He’s always told me to chase my dreams. He’s taught me how to be professional … how to be a man. Anytime I’ve ever needed anything, advice, I could call him. Just having someone in your ear, helping you so much over the years, it’s awesome.”
Moses wrote a paper for a class at Nicholls about his time with the Youth Empowerment Project – that paper is actually what connected the two with the Tamron Hall Show.
“We were recognized because of that paper he wrote,” said Emery. “He sent it to me. I couldn’t even read it because I got emotional. My wife had to read it to me. It was truly heartfelt.”
Said Moses, “It’s the mental support, the emotional support … they adopted me, without putting it on the dotted line.”
Emery chuckled a bit, noting he doesn’t like others seeing him get emotional but that when Moses comes up, many times – most, he admits – he just can’t help it.
“Youth Empowerment Project just made 20 years. And I was asked what’s the most miraculous thing that’s happened (in Emery’s time there) … the first thing I could think about was him.
“Every time I talk about Shamarr, I get emotional because I’m so proud of him. This didn’t just happen yesterday. This has been since he was in high school. He made such a turnaround … then you hear one day, he says that I’ve been like a father figure for him. It’s hard not to get emotional.
“I knew he had the potential. Once he realized it, he took it and ran with it … it goes deeper than what we can explain. But he made it easy. He wanted it. He wanted to do well. And once he had the blueprint … he made it easy.”
Parquet saw potential in Emery, too.
“When I was 15, he liked the way I handled myself and he gave me a couple of kids to give some guidance to … I’ve been doing it ever since,” Emery said.
And Moses pays it forward for another generation.
“I know where I came from and I know who helped me,” Moses said. “Whenever I see any young man struggling, I give a bit of advice … it can seem like a small thing, but you never know. What you do with that advice can go a long way.”
