Mamma’s boy: Cleveland Browns’ Danny Shelton

By Nate Ulrich/Akron Beacon Journal

Danny Shelton listened to the advice doled out this week at the NFL Rookie Symposium and realised his mother has been preaching similar lessons about staying out of trouble for years.
“My whole life has been like that,” Shelton said Tuesday while AFC rookies participated in a youth football clinic at Browns headquarters as part of the symposium.
He didn’t always listen, but his mom was too tough to give up.
Once Shelton had to be strong to survive as a victim of domestic violence who essentially raised five children on her own. She had to be resilient to prevent the boy whom the Browns would ultimately pick 12th overall in the NFL draft from wasting his talent.
For those reasons and many others, Shelton, a 6-foot-2, 339-pound nose tackle who recently graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in anthropology, honoured his mom this past weekend on Father’s Day by posting a photograph on Instagram of her holding his No. 71 Browns jersey.
“Happy Father’s Day to my Mom, the one and only,” the caption read. “Raised 5, put all 5 through college, and continues to guide us through life. I thank God for you everyday. I love you mom! #HappyFathersDayMom #singleparenting #SamoanMom.”
The symposium is an orientation for all drafted rookies designed to educate them about transitioning from college to the professional level. Speakers provide lessons about social responsibility, professional development, community engagement, league policies, workplace conduct and media relations. Educational life-skills workshops are offered.
For the fourth consecutive year, the symposium is based this week at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, with field trips to Berea and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. The AFC rookies wrapped up their symposium participation yesterday, when the NFC rookies will arrive and stay through Saturday.
The forum is new to Shelton, but most of the ideas perpetuated at the symposium are familiar because of his mom, whose Samoan heritage is celebrated by the family.
“She’s a big part of why I’m here today, why I’m this kind of man today,” Shelton said. “She’s everything. She did everything.”
Growing up, Shelton and his siblings    three brothers and a sister    often moved from one apartment to another with Oneone to evade their father. Shelton has said his father physically abused his mother and one of his older brothers.
Meanwhile, Shelton acted out as a kid. He got into trouble for shoplifting. He was a frequent visitor to the principal’s office at school. He was suspended for two months in high school.
Then tragedy struck on May 1, 2011, while Shelton and his brothers were involved in an altercation at an apartment complex in Auburn, Wash. Shelton was a 17-year-old senior in high school when his brother Shennon, 22, was fatally shot in the head during the confrontation. His other brother, Gaston, then 23, was shot, too, but survived.
Shelton had already signed to play for Washington but considered quitting football in the wake of the devastation. Support from then-Washington coach Steve Sarkisian helped Shelton carry through with his plan to play for the Huskies.
But flashbacks to his brother’s death sometimes caused him to sob or lash out in fits of rage. Shelton has said he didn’t gain better control of his anger until he was nearly 20. He credits Washington coach Chris Petersen for continuing to guide him after succeeding Sarkisian.
“Honestly, without any of them, without any of the people who have reached out, who have taken the time to steer me the right way, without them, I honestly think I’d probably be out of school after high school trying to make a living,” Shelton said. “It really is a blessing to look where I am now.”
Through it all, Oneone has been there, leaning on her Christian faith and encouraging Shelton every day to read the Bible.
“She’s always reminded us to do the right things,” Shelton said. “It comes to a point where you stop with the childish stuff, and you grow as a man for your mom to take her out of the struggles that she’s been through and put her in a better place where she doesn’t need to worry about anything.”
After signing a four-year contract worth $11.7 million on May 15, Shelton is finally in a position to turn his dream of buying a house for his mom into a reality. He plans to move Oneone out of her apartment in Auburn and into a new home in the same area toward the end of this month. One of his uncles who helped raise him also plans to live there.
“I told her every day when I was young, ‘When I make it to the NFL, I’m going to buy you a house,’ “ Shelton said. “I’m going to fulfill my promise to her. I’m working on finalizing the papers and moving her.”