Tyrone Keys
Tyrone Keys is from Jackson, Mississippi where he was named High School All-American and voted defensive MVP of the year in the state of Mississippi in 1977. His high school team also won the state championship in 1976. Keys chose to attend Mississippi State University where his determination to make a significant impact for this university catapulted him into making 26 career sacks (second highest in the school’s history) and being selected All-Southeastern Conference (All SEC) three consecutive seasons, 1977-1980. After graduating from Mississippi State in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education, Tyrone began his 9-year professional football career. Tyrone was the 5th Round (113th player) draft pick, defensive end, for the 1981 New York Jets. However, he decided to start his career with two seasons in the Canadian Football League’s British Columbia (BC) Lions. In 1983, Keys returned to the National Football League (NFL) to launch a successful seven-year career. He signed with the Chicago Bears as a defensive end where he remained through the 1985 Super Bowl XX Championship year. Tyrone was the keyboardist in the Super Bowl Shuffle video which was nominated for a GRAMMY Award and sold over a million copies. His next stop was the Pre-Super Bowl Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986-1987. Keys retired from the NFL after a career ending injury with the Pre-Super Bowl San Diego Chargers in 1989. Keys founded “All Sports Community Service, Inc” in 1993 as a non-profit mentoring and scholarship organization dedicated to helping challenged youth in Tampa, Florida achieve their dream of attending college. Keys taught his students the idea that the skills from the playing field could be parlayed onto the field of life. Since 1993 All Sports has assisted hundreds of students obtain over $20 million in support of their college education from all over this country and in England as well. All Sports students are mentored through a combination of academics, community service, and sports. Great emphasis is placed on returning to the community to assist the next generation. All Sports is now seeing the Full Circle Participation in action with its students returning to invest time, energy, and scholarship funds into the program and the community. Confirmation of the words that he had once heard from his mentor about sowing was now evident. Tyrone was one of seventy five former athletes to receive the Stories of Character Award, which commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the Southeastern Conference on January 26, 2008. He was also awarded an NFL Charities Grant from Roger Goodell January 21, 2010. Tyrone Keys’ life work encourages Academics, Community Service, Sports, and Significance as he shares these words from his grandmother, Ms Ruth Anna Jordan, with the next generation: “Once a task begun, never leave it until it is done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.”
