Daily Sports Smile: Asante Samuel Jr. visits alma mater, thanks high school coach

Asante Samuel Jr. might still be a relatively newcomer to the NFL, but he has a lot of wisdom to share with his alma mater.

The second-year player recently went on a homecoming trip to St. Thomas Aquinas High School, a football powerhouse in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. It's the same school Joey Bosa and his brother, Nick, attended. Samuel's current Los Angeles Chargers teammate Josh Palmer was also on the Raiders the same time he was.

During his visit, Samuel caught up with coach Roger Harriott, who he said was a father figure to him. Samuel is the son of two-time Super Bowl champion Asante Samuel, but they have had a strained relationship.

"He practices what he preach, that's why I really respect him," the former Florida State player said in a video posted by the Chargers earlier this month. "... You don't really find that too much in this world no more. So once I seen that, it was kinda like hard not to connect with him."

The coach, who guided St. Thomas Aquinas to the 2016 State Champions Bowl Series victory, applauded the young star for how he took ownership of his success.

"I remember the days that you were here and you were trying to figure out your own personal life and at the same time take care of business here," Harriott said. "You allowed adversity to be your motivation."

Samuel reminisces on the time he was called up to the varsity team as a sophomore. His first play was an interception and it was a moment that gave him confidence as a player. But Harriott recalled all the hard work that the defensive back put in to make it to that point. The coach explained how he would take his daughter to the park for her soccer games and see Samuel training.

"Sometimes you were by yourself and you were getting the extra work in," he said. "And they'd criticize you for not being big enough. They'd criticize you for not being fast enough, but you never allowed that to hinder you. You did it with class, a real love in your heart to represent God, your mom, your family members, us, and we're really proud of you."

Samuel also visited with current players on the St. Thomas Aquinas football team and Harriott gave him a glowing introduction, saying he's an example of what the program hopes to teach their students.

"This individual has done a great job of representing the foundation and the fundamental essence of this program with love, respect and genuine appreciation," he said.

Samuel, who has three career interceptions so far and has started all 17 games he's played, then shared some words of wisdom with his fellow Raiders.

"I ain't gonna be too long. I'ma keep it to you raw. I don't wanna sugarcoat nothing," he said, "but keep grinding, keep God first, just stay the course."

Samuel will take that same sense of camaraderie into the game Monday when the Chargers have an AFC West matchup against the Denver Broncos.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Asante Samuel Jr. visits alma mater St. Thomas Aquinas