Pittsburgh Steelers player William Gay recently opened up about his troubled childhood in order to help others who have experienced domestic violence.
Gay's mother, Carolyn Hall, was killed by his stepfather when he was seven years old. The young Gay was devastated by the loss of his mother.
"I didn't know which way to go," he admitted. "I started seeing evil and thinking the world was against me, so I didn't really trust anybody, and I didn't really care for anybody."
Gay was raised by his grandmother, but was still damaged by the pain of his mother's loss.
"Up until I was 12-years-old, I was going down the wrong path," he told PEOPLE. "When you lose a parent at a young age, you kind of lose direction."
He began to give up on school, and could have had a future cut short due to his emotional issues. Instead, Gay discovered football, and his life changed course.
The 30-year-old attended the University of Louisville on a football scholarship before entering the NFL draft in 2007. He was selected by the Steelers in the fifth round.
"Football took me away from all the evil and helped me grow into a man," said Gay.
Now, the athlete is giving back. He has partnered with Verizon for their HopeLine Program, which donates used and refurbished phones to domestic violence shelters. Gay also speaks to women and children at the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh about his experience and healing from the pain of his childhood.
"We should all come together and end it – every race, male, female – let's focus on the world," he said of violence against women and children. "We need to stop it as a whole."
