Minnesota Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah II, a 2021 Academic First-team All-Big 12 with Oklahoma, attended the NFL Africa camp in Kenya and encouraged young players to embrace academics.
Apart from setting them up to pursue alternative careers away from the field, Asamoah told the teens in Nairobi that being academically diligent helps the best football players improve themselves on it.
Using an unusual analogy, Asamoah told ESPN: "I studied HR (human relations) in college at the University of Oklahoma, and basically, my plans after football are just to help kids -- give them an opportunity to also maximise their skills just like I was able to.
"In the game of football, you have to have both -- you can't just have one; you can't just be an academic scholar [or] good at football. You have to be good in school and you also have to be good on the field.
"That's how you get into colleges; that's how you become an Academic All-American, because you're handling things on the football field and also handling things in the classroom.
"Those two things go hand-in-hand; you can't have one without the other. You've just got to treat it like a sandwich -- stack it all up and eat it, attack it."
The trip represents a homecoming of sorts for the 23-year-old, as he lived in Ghana for a year, with his uncle, at the age of 10. It was then that a young Brian, who had played football in the US from the age of 6, realised how much he really loved it.
Asamoah, who was drafted 66th overall in 2022 by the Vikings, said: "I started playing football when I was six years old and then four years later, I went to Africa when I was 10. That's where I kind of decided that football was going to be something for me.
"My level of appreciation just for the sport and for life itself was definitely raised after that trip because I was much more appreciative and grateful that I can play the sport because I didn't play it for a year. Coming back, I was definitely excited -- knew this was what I was going to do. From there, the switch clicked and I didn't look back from there."
Aside from the scholarly advice, Asamoah had plenty more to share with the camp attendees in Kenya, adding: "I spend a lot of time taking care of my body, making sure I don't have any nicks or bruises that are stopping me from being able to display my ability.
"The best ability as a player is availability, so taking care of your body is the most important thing.
"From there, it's honestly just being able to learn things and being able to retain that information and apply it on the football field. If a coach is spending time with you and he's teaching you the nuances of the game, teaching you the proper techniques that you must use in certain positions, the most important thing is just understanding that, making sure you fully grasp all the things that he's teaching you - and from there, using all that information, applying it.
"From there, it's repetition -- repeating the same action over and over again until it becomes perfect. This game is not perfect, but you have to do perfect things in certain situations, so the more time you enhance your abilities, the more times you enhance your knowledge and understanding of the game of football and proper techniques and when to use them, [the more] you're going to be playing lights out -- just playing ball, having fun."
Throughout the camp, Asamoah gained confidence that one day, he can use his studious nature to become a football coach himself.
"I've seen that I can honestly become a coach, just going through this whole process, just because of the passion that I have for helping kids and giving them the opportunity to become successful just like someone gave me the opportunity, someone helped me," he said.
"Just seeing it being passed down like it was passed on to me is an unbelievable feeling and I have learned about myself through this entire process."