Addiction, financial insecurity, and a career-ending injury. The nightmare and sad reality of the life of a high-profile athlete; one that seemed to quickly consume Kenny Irons.
Irons, former Auburn and Cincinnati Bengals running back, found himself in a dark state after suffering a torn ACL in the first preseason game of his NFL rookie career.
“I faced knee surgery, a deep depression, addiction to painkillers, addiction to muscle relaxers; I didn’t really care about life anymore,” Irons said.
A life of football and a glimpse of the big league left Irons empty handed wondering how he got there.
Irons was handed a football as soon as he could hold one. Irons’ father, Gerald, has a strong love for the game of football. Irons believes his father's passion came from not being able to play after suffering injuries from his time in the Army. Gerald introduced his two sons, Irons and his older brother David, to football.
He grew up David’s little brother, playing alongside him from Pop-Warner football through their days at Dacula (Georgia) High School. Irons stacked up his running accolades in high school, earning PrepStar All-American and playing in the Georgia-Florida High School All-Star Game.
Irons would never tell anyone about his accomplishments; getting this kind of information out of him was harder than pulling a cat’s teeth. And the thing is, he didn’t even like the sport. “I think the process of the sport is what I didn’t like, but I knew how much joy it brought my father, so I continued to play.” Irons says, “I did it to make him happy.”
He gained the attention not only of his high school coaches and teammates, but also of college coaches across the country. In 2003, Irons signed with the University of South Carolina to play under Lou Holtz.
After a season, Irons decided Holtz and the “politics” of football at South Carolina was not for him. He wanted to leave and as soon as possible.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to transfer if I told them I would be going to another SEC school, so I lied to the school and told them I was going to Southern Cal or Texas to go play ball.”
So Irons did what Irons does best and finessed his transfer papers; slipping that white lie through his constantly beaming white smile.
He soon found himself transferring to Auburn in 2004 to play alongside his brother once again under Head Coach Tommy Tuberville.
When Irons got to Auburn he assumed he was on scholarship like he was at South Carolina. He got a call from his father one day telling him that he’d received a tuition bill in the mail. Irons told his father, “You know what, don’t worry about it. I’m gonna earn my scholarship. I’m gonna work hard. I don’t want anything handed to me.”
Irons’ father explained to him that he would be kicked off campus before he had the time to earn his scholarship. Without scholarship, Irons would not be attending Auburn. Naturally, Irons response was, “Well shit you better drive down here then!”
To his request, his father drove down to Auburn and talked to Tuberville (“Tubs” as Irons calls him) for over two hours. Irons was back on scholarship.
Talking about Auburn is where Irons’ already electric personality escalates. He credits some of his favorite memories to his time at Auburn.
Back in 2004, Tiger Walk didn’t have barricades, fans just formed a tunnel to the stadium. One fan was just as excited for the game as Irons; jumping alongside Irons as he bounced his way through Tiger Walk. Irons grabbed the fan and put him in Tiger Walk. He paraded with the team without any questioning from the cops; they assumed he was family. The fan made it all the way into the locker room with Irons until he said, “You gotta go man.”
Not only did he make some of his favorite memories at Auburn, but discovered values that he still carries with him today. “Tubs instilled in us that we had to hold ourselves accountable. I would always go back to those core values that he held: respect, value, and commitment.”
From Auburn, Irons was destined for the NFL. He was picked up in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2007.
The future was looking bright for Irons. He began living the lavish NFL lifestyle and “friends” quickly began to surround themselves around him. Irons giving heart was no match for the greediness of the groupies from the NFL. After his ACL injury, all of those people disappeared as quickly as they came and left with his earnings.
He speaks honestly and confidently about his struggle with depression, financial security, and addiction to painkillers after his life-changing injury. Irons’ life was football up to this point, and it was all taken from him in an instant.
He moved from Cincinnati to Atlanta to be near David, who was playing for the Atlanta Falcons at the time. He lost his athletic figure that he was so proud of all of his life because of his addiction.
With the help of some of his former teammates at Auburn, Irons began working out and training again, and was finally free of the painkillers.
In what he calls a “random circumstance,” Irons got a call one day asking if he was interested in teaching others how to transform their bodies through training just like he did.
From there, fate takes over.
Irons now works in Atlanta as a fitness instructor at Barry’s Bootcamp. Running around outside of Barry’s in downtown Atlanta, sporting his white work-out shirt and black Barry’s hat, Irons shows his free-spirited personality and severe Attention Deficit Disorder.
He talks to people on the street like he has known them his entire life. Irons found his true passion in connecting with people.
Along with working at Barry’s, Irons shares a business with his brother and father, Irons 2 Impact. Irons father originally started the business as a charity while Irons and his brother were in the NFL. Irons 2 Impact stands for their last name, the two brothers, and impacting the community. Their goal is to impact children in their community by teaching them sports training.
Ever since Irons’ financial struggles, the charity transformed into a business model to bring in NFL players and pair them with financial advisors the Irons work with. He wants other players to know the importance of financial security and avoid making some of the mistakes he did.
These NFL players also carry on some of the founding principles of the organization and host free clinics for kids in the community to learn the game of football.
Where most people would have given up, Irons was able to find his passion for training and simply serving others. His circumstance seemed dire, but nothing can deter his contagious positivity and joy.
Irons won’t ever quit smiling.
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