person’s determinations,” decorate Hernandez’s arms and were once favorite quotes of his father. Tattoos pictured on his right arm such as a sun, represent the good days he had with his father and the angels toward his wrist remind Hernandez that it all ends in heaven.

After a rocky path, that included a failed drug test while at UF, Hernandez dug into his Puerto Rican roots in hopes of being able to give back to the Latino community. Prior to this season, as the NFL was on lockout, Hernandez found the Lucero Mental Health Training Program as his perfect fit.

“I thought it would be a perfect charity for me to get involved with,” said Hernandez in an interview with the Boston Herald back in April. “It’s geared toward training with mental health specialists with the Hispanic population. I know I trained with professional psychologists in college when I was going through hard times,” he said.

Hernandez’s main goal is to be able to tell Latino kids that it’s alright to make a mistake and learn from it. “I obviously made a lot of wrong decisions. But, I learned from them,” Hernandez said. “It’s just a matter of how you bounce back from them.”

Today, Hernandez stands one game away from winning a Super Bowl. In only his second year in the NFL and after being the youngest player on any active roster back in 2010, he is ready to experience all that comes with the Super Bowl. “It’s obviously an honor. You dream of stuff like this since you’re a little kid,” Hernandez said. “You never really actually see yourself in this position because obviously it’s always a dream, but to be here seems surreal.”

With projections of Hispanic population tripling by 2050, ...