issue feature The Hot List

Gary Burley

With an expressive face
 Gary Burley With an expressive face and wide smile that fits neatly with his former NFL linebacker physique, Gary Burley talks about the goals of his ProStart Academy as if pay dirt was just a yard or two away.

He knows it is farther than that— a long slog over rough yardage—but just as in his playing days, Burley knows that if you do the work you are more likely to get the reward. For Burley these days that reward is not measured in championship rings or tackles or even making it through another game without a career-ending injury. With his ProStart Academy, the reward is the knowledge that kids who might have been floundering are now on a path to success.

ProStart Academy is an athletic and life skills training camp for high school athletes, taught in part by former NFL players. Headquartered at Miles College, the academy provides 100 Birmingham area students sport fundamentals along with life skills such as time and money management, help with academics, college requirements and marketing savvy in the arena of college scholarships.

“I am thrilled to be able to give Birmingham’s young players the opportunity to learn from the leaders in their field,” says Burley, an Ohio native and three-time All American at the University of Pittsburgh who played in Super Bowl XVI with the Cincinnati Bengals. “Our coaches and advisors are some of the country’s most notable players. These professionals are outstanding not only for their athletic accomplishments, but also for their commitment to the community and their dedication to helping the next generation of athletes.

“Coming out of high school I was an unrecruited athlete. People noticed my potential and taught me how to market myself, get my mind right and develop my body. I want to give back and give kids a roadmap to success. I was a kid whose dream was to work at Westinghouse and maybe one day buy a GTO. I had no idea I could go to college and have the level of success I was able to achieve,” says Burley.

After junior college in Wharton, Texas, and a stellar collegiate career at the University of Pittsburgh, Burley (who is married to Alabama Power Public Relations executive Bobbie Knight) was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1975. He retired from the Atlanta Falcons in 1984.

The first group of students (age 13 to 18) began working in the program back in March. The first phase of the program involves football only, but will be expanded in the future to include other sports. The organization’s website (prostartacademy.com) details the partnerships with Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and the Birmingham City School District that feed students into the program. —JO


Whole Foods

 I’m utterly inspired.
Immaculate rows of organic fruits and vegetables artistically arranged and endless aisles of products without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or hydrogenated oils awaken my senses. Why wouldn’t you shop in a place like this that is both aesthetically and nutritionally sound?

Whole Foods Market in Mountain Brook opened in February 2007 and the hype still hasn’t waned. “Birmingham is an up and coming community interested in health and wellness and they’ve embraced us in a way we never could have imagined,” says Marketing Team Leader Laura Brooks-Bright. Shoppers come because Whole Foods Market offers “the largest selection of natural and organic foods of any other grocer in the world,” according to Brooks- Bright, and they want customers “to celebrate the joy of eating and living well.”

The store boasts products “from the everyday to the gourmet”—a variety of pizzas; ready-made sides such as couscous with feta and olives, spicy sesame noodles and marinated mushrooms; ready-to-cook entrees such as Cornish hens stuffed with cashews and herbs and chicken cordon bleu; fine meats like grass-fed bottom roast and fresh-cut lamb rack; and a wall of produce with unique selections including Belgian endive, radicchio, dandelion greens and 16 kinds of mushrooms.

Whole Foods Market’s seafood department showcases a wide variety of fish including wild caught white shrimp, baby octopus, cobia filet, rainbow trout, crab cakes and wild flounder to name a few. And the store offers a dine-in or take-out sushi bar, coffee bar, wine and olive oil tasting stations, village brasserie, bakery, health and wellness department and live plants ranging from fresh cut flowers to orchids, sweet basil and five-gallon fruit trees. Birmingham shoppers also enjoy attending Whole Foods Market’s wine and cheese pairings, story time and crafts, wine tastings and other special events. For more details visit wholefoods. com. —JW

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January Birmingham, Alabama

  

 
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