Titus O'Neil wants to use his platform for more than just entertaining the WWE Universe.
An ambassador for WWE Titus O'Neil did not have the ideal upbringing. O'Neil shared that his mother was a victim of rape at the age of 11. Her parents wanted her to have an abortion but she refused and gave birth to one Thaddeus Michael Bullard.
“She was driven from St. Augustine to Boynton Beach, FL to have an abortion. She decided she wasn’t going to do it,” says O'Neil. "Her mother told her to pack her bags when she got back home and leave." O'Neil told The Post And Courier.
Titus O'Neil and his mother stayed with a classmate of his' family. O'Neil grew up in a very rough neighborhood in Live Oak, FL. Due to outside distractions, he underperformed in school and on top of that was bullied.
"We struggled. I grew up in the project, in government housing, with government assistance. Got bullied a lot, wore high-water pants and shoes that were torn. I’d get into fights and my glasses would get broken, and because my mom didn’t have money to replace them, I’d walk around with taped glasses. My nickname was ‘Eyes’ for a while, so I stopped wearing my glasses.”
The Florida Gator would have a repackaging of sorts and completed a full 360 with his life. Titus O'Neil earned a scholarship to the University of Florida where his journey to inspiring the world would begin.
“I tell people all the time, I’m really not supposed to be here. If my Mom hadn’t jumped out of that car in Boynton Beach, FL and ran into the hospital and had me three weeks later, just think how different things might be now. But because of her sacrifice almost 40 years ago, thousands of people will be first-generation college students. Families have been impacted in a great way because of what my Mom did. Her son was going to live, and if she had to struggle, she would just have to struggle.” O'Neil expressed.
The former WWE Tag Team Champion has been a reoccurring character on WWE television since 2012. Although being on the road with the WWE throughout the years has brought O'Neil plenty of opportunities, he is not defined by what he does for a living.
"What I do for a living is not who I am for a living. I feel that way pretty much about everything I‘ve ever done. I want to ultimately be the best man of character that I can possibly be. It was men and women of character who helped get me in the position that I’m in, not just as a WWE superstar, but also as a father, as a mentor, as an educator, as a son." He explained, "It’s always been my understanding that when you’re blessed enough to be taken out of a situation that not’s so great and put into a better situation, you try to duplicate that for others. That’s what I do. I try to duplicate the efforts and the kind gestures that were done for me at a time when people invested in me who had nothing to gain in return. The platform that I have within WWE definitely allows me to broaden what I’ve already done. But I’d be doing stuff in my community whether I was a WWE superstar or not. I did tremendous things in Gainesville when I was at the University of Florida. There are programs that I started when I was in college as Vice President of the student body that are still going today.”
The head honcho of 'Titus Worldwide' would further dive into bettering his community and inspiring his children to reach for the moon in life. To check out more comments from Titus O'Neil, click here.
