JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette gave back to his new community in a unique way, by shaping the future with glory of his past.
Fournette, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, melted down his old trophies to create new weights for Raines High School. But he also surprised the football team and shared a special message.
Trophies are a physical representation of an accomplishment. But "after awhile, they lose some of their luster. They sit around on shelves, collecting dust," said Anthony Scarlett, athletic director of Raines High School.
Fournette, who was the No. 1 high school player in the country as a senior and one of the best running backs in college during entire career at LSU, decided to turn them into something useful.
He collected and donated 700 trophies, some of which were his own.
"That's a lot of trophies," said Ivory Durham, a Raines football player.
The trophies were broken up, melted down and turned into dumbbell weights for student athletes at Raines High School in Northwest Jacksonville.
"The new ones are all gold and beautiful," George Webb, a Raines football player, told News4Jax on Friday.
With a growing athletic program, it's easy to imagine how much use the equipment inside the weight room gets. Fournette's donation not only gives them new equipment, but doubles the amount of dumbbells that the student athletes can use.
"It's a big component to the Raines football team because that's all we do -- lift weights. So we can get bigger, stronger, faster," Webb said.
The Vikings football team also got to meet their idol when Fournette made a surprise visit recently.
"As soon as he walked through the door, everybody was screaming. It was loud. We were happy and excited to see him," Durham said. "He told us how he beat the odds when he was younger, so that's what we're trying to do -- beat the odds."
The experience was something the Vikings said they'll never forget.