Early Years
Perry was born in Aiken, South Carolina. He has stated in an interview that "Even when I was little, I was big"; by the time he was 11 years old, he weighed 200 pounds.
Frequently ridiculed for his weight while growing up, Perry took advantage of his athleticism to silence his critics. He attended Aiken High School and played as a 295-pound nose guard on the school's football team. During an exercise in which his coach instructed all of his fastest players to line up for a 100-yard dash, Perry joined the group of running backs, wide receivers and defensive backs and eventually was timed as the 6th fastest runner on the entire team. He could also execute 360-degree dunks on regulation basketball hoops and perform complicated dives into the swimming pool.
Read more about this topic: William Perry (American Football)
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“Although good early childhood programs can benefit all children, they are not a quick fix for all of society’s ills—from crime in the streets to adolescent pregnancy, from school failure to unemployment. We must emphasize that good quality early childhood programs can help change the social and educational outcomes for many children, but they are not a panacea; they cannot ameliorate the effects of all harmful social and psychological environments.”
—Barbara Bowman (20th century)
“When the world was half a thousand years younger all events had much sharper outlines than now. The distance between sadness and joy, between good and bad fortune, seemed to be much greater than for us; every experience had that degree of directness and absoluteness which joy and sadness still have in the mind of a child”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)