Neville Gallimore

And obviously, I was a basketball guy once upon a time.

But I will say, I want to say it was about ninth grade.

I was playing for this AAU ball team that my brothers were all part of, Phoenix, Auto Phoenix.

And I remember I told my brothers, as well as my coach, Coach Waterman, I pretty much told him, like, hey, man, I...

I feel like I can go very far in this football, and I feel like I can really help set the tone for the city.

Because for me, it was about, obviously, it was about getting school paid for, but it was about really kind of getting an opportunity to show that, you know, a kid like myself from Ottawa, like, we have ballplayers, an opportunity to really represent my city and really just kind of, you know, have my dreams, but the dream for the city and, you know, those close to me come true.

So I feel like when that opportunity presented itself, you know, ninth grade was when I was like, you know what?

I think I can do this, but I'm going to devote everything that I possibly can to make sure that, you know, this dream comes true.

Were you always, like, the biggest and the strongest?

Like, what was the projection for you?

I think most would say I was.

I was always kind of, you know, the biggest one in the group, could always run for my size.

And, again, I think from when I started going to camps, you know, in America,

I want to say it really kind of took my love for the game to another level because I know the first time when I, I think the first camp I went to was like a national underclassman.

And it was like North Jersey Palisades.

And I think it was like the first time I was like, man, I wasn't the biggest.

Wasn't the fastest.

And I was actually seeing guys that were my age that were already getting recruited.

And I think for me, it was kind of cool because, you know, again, come from Ottawa, you see these kids, you know, going to the 707, these big camps, you're kind of like, man, like, you're kind of wondering if it could be you.

So when you get to see these kids face-to-face, you still got to see, like, okay, there's an opportunity for me here.