Former Cowboys DB Everson Walls Talks Lessons Learned Through Hardships In Life

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Everson Walls grew up in the Hamilton Park section of Dallas, just a few miles from the Dallas Cowboys practice facility.

Reaching the NFL became his lifelong dream. But, at age 14, Walls spent time in a juvenile detention center. He admits that experience proved that "I was not meant for jail."

Walls would rebound to eventually earn a scholarship to Grambling State. Despite being an All-American, he went undrafted.

Yet, he made the team with his hometown Cowboys in 1981. That year, as a rookie, he led the NFL with 11 interceptions.

Walls made the Pro Bowl four times with the Cowboys. Following the 1989 season, however, the team went in a different direction.

Everson signed with the rival New York Giants. In 1990, Walls helped anchor a defense that carried Bill Parcells and the Giants to the Super Bowl title.

Post career, it was Everson donating a kidney to his former Cowboys teammate, Ron Springs, that gained national attention.

Currently, Everson Walls is the co-founder of Ethos Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping bridge the educational gap between where some kids are and where they need to be.