Chicago Tribune

From Chicago's South Side to West Point: Ahmad Bradshaw found his calling as Army's quarterback

CHICAGO - While Ahmad Bradshaw was in elementary school on the South Side of Chicago, his mother, Kizzy Collins, was taking classes toward a degree at DeVry University.

"He'd bring home his report card," she recalled, "and we'd compete for grades."

The two shared a desire to be educated - and to be safe.

A single mom with a lone child, Collins moved with Ahmad from 63rd and King Drive to 76th and Colfax to 47th and Champlain to 44th and Prairie. The motive was grim: to stay a step ahead of the gun-violence epidemic that would claim Ahmad's friend Jamiere

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune3 min read
Downtown Chicago Chocolate Factory To Close
Blommer Chocolate is closing its downtown Chicago factory following plummeting sales and increased maintenance and repair costs for the 85-year-old building, the company announced Friday. Built in 1939, the brick factory is Blommer’s original produc
Chicago Tribune4 min read
‘Steve! (Martin)’ Review: A Documentary That Is More Than Celebrity Image Management
The barrage of celebrity documentaries that have arrived in the wake of (and seemingly inspired by the success of) 2020’s “The Last Dance” tend to be exercises in image management. Unlike the dishier genre of celebrity memoir, these are scrapbooks fo
Chicago Tribune2 min readCrime & Violence
Illinois Supreme Court To Hear Jussie Smollett Appeal
CHICAGO — The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from Jussie Smollett, the former “Empire” actor whose convictions for staging a hate crime caused fevered international media attention. This means that the case, which has continued a

Related