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For Former Gopher Football Star, Valuable Lessons Learned In Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Amir Pinnix learned a valuable lesson in college -- he had to wait to burst onto the scene until his senior season.

"It was very tough because I knew that at some point in time, my time was going to come, but I just didn't know when," he said. "I had to exercise some patience, because when my number was called, I had to be ready. But it was tough leading up to that point. It was really tough."

He got a shot with the Vikings, but it didn't stick. Still, it was a chance in the NFL, and that was an honor in itself.

"You know, you live out that dream and you put on an NFL helmet. You get out there and you're performing with other NFL players. That was one of the best feelings, and experiences of my life," he said.

After the tryout with the Vikings didn't pan out, he turned his efforts towards corporate America, landing a job on the east coast with Cargill.

"As a young man, you want to have a plan. You want to have a Plan A and a Plan B," he said. "You want to have more than one dream, because you're allowed to have more than one dream."

He's penned a book that explains his journey, called The King In You. It tells the story of a kid from the inner city making it out.

"For every story that I tell, I teach a lesson behind the story," he said. "So Lesson Number 1, for example, is 'Your word is your bond.' As a man, when you're going through life, if you give somebody your word, you should keep that."

Pinnix says he became a man in Minnesota, and he's right where he wants to be because of it.

At this point in time, I'm very excited and happy about where I am," he said. "Being a difference-maker in the lives of other people is really what I'm here to do."

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