Author: LeSean McCoy

LeSean McCoy and Tyrell Harris were childhood friends. They grew up playing football and dreamed of being college football stars. While pursuing their dream, Tyrell’s life was cut short by a fatal car accident. McCoy turned tragedy into hope by establishing the Tyrell Harris Labor of Love Memorial scholarship to honor the untimely death of this friend.

About Tyrell

Growing up and throughout his college career, Tyrell Harris was known by all as a dedicated, loving, hard-working, and generous young man. In 2014, while playing cornerback at Syracuse University, Harris unexpectedly passed away in a car crash while driving home for Christmas.

How The Tyrell Harris Scholarship Helps Aspiring Youth

Each year LeSean McCoy returns home to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to present the Tyrell Harris Scholar to deserving youth. To date, McCoy and the Tyrell Harris Scholarship have helped 17 young men from his hometown pursue their dreams of higher education. In 2022, the scholarship welcomed 9 more recipients into the program.

The Tyrell Harris Scholarship assists youth with a variety of tasks, such as job coaching, filling out applications, and assisting students with addressing any mental health issues they may be dealing with. This scholarship focuses strongly on inspiring students to follow in the footsteps of Tyrell Harris, who was an exemplary student and community member.

The Labor Of Love Tyrell Harris Scholarship not only assists students with financial aid but also in providing them with dorm accessories, books, laptops, meal plans, and other school supplies that can help students be as successful as possible.

This scholarship aids students by holding them accountable; strong academic excellence, as well as showing involvement within their community, are both requirements in earning the scholarship. This scholarship is awarded every year to eight new students, and assistance is given throughout the student’s college careers.

The staff under the Labor Of Love Tyrell Harris Scholarship keep in contact with scholarship recipients to ensure that all of their financial and academic needs are being met throughout each semester and help them to excel in their coursework.

Summary

The Tyrell Harris Labor of Love Scholarship shows how the loyalty and support of a true childhood friend, LeSean McCoy, can make good from tragedy and how love and honor can help to benefit others.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a city rich with a history spanning over 200 years and plenty of opportunities for work and play, will welcome a brand-new three-story apartment building courtesy of LeRon and LeSean McCoy, former NFL players.

The company, McCoy Boys, bought a triplet of decrepit properties on North Sixth Street to inject a new lease of life into the area and provide housing affordable to all.

LeSean McCoy Purchases Three Buildings to Transform

Ryan Sanders, a McCoy Boys partner, stated that the company bought the properties at 1526, 1524, and 1522 North Sixth Street in Harrisburg.

Situated in Uptown Harrisburg, the North Sixth Street District encompasses the corridor where the buildings were bought, including the few side streets stretching from Radnor Street to Maclay Street.

While the area is currently experiencing market deterioration, the location is set to make a recovery — and the ex-football players wanted a piece of it.

A new United States of America Federal Courthouse and state archives buildings are currently being constructed near the McCoy Boys-purchased properties. This only added to the company’s willingness to invest in the area.

A Brief History of 1522, 1524, and 1526

The three buildings bought by Vice Capital for transformation were previously owned by Dean Carter.

Built by his father, Zubber Carter, the middle property housed Carter’s Cut Rates. The store opened in 1954 and was later renamed Carter’s Variety Store.

However, the 1524 N. Sixth Street eventually became B Large Sound Effects.

Heart wrenchingly, Carter has watched at least 100 properties within the area be demolished, yet the store remained — until February 18, 2022.

After 68 years of the family business, Carter closed his store, closing the chapter on a significant part of Harrisburg’s history.

Eight people moved out of the previously Carter-owned apartments (1522 and 1524) in February. But as for 1526, it’s been standing vacant for years.

The Future of 1522, 1524, and 1526

Despite losing a well-loved family business, the future for this part of Harrisburg is bright, thanks to McCoy Boys.

The company plans to knock all three buildings down, leaving ample room to construct a three-story facility.

Once complete, it should boast roughly 40 market-rate, affordable housing apartments. Ryan Sanders is keen to start breaking ground with the project in 2023.

He also notes that one of the reasons behind purchasing these specific properties was to keep the African American business tradition along N. Sixth Street alive.

Alongside the apartments, the construction will have a co-working space. The focus of this zone will be to offer a space for minority-owned small and medium businesses to access desks and conference rooms.

Plus, with the new federal buildings not too far away, it was a no-brainer for the two ex-NFL players and the company’s partner to invest in the area.

In the coming years, residents of North Sixth Street in Harrisburg can rejoice in the new lease of vibrancy, affordable housing, and work opportunities arriving in the district.

It’s a cooldown. It’s a meltdown.

It’s grim. It’s correcting.

What everyone can generally agree on is that there’s something going on right now that’s changing the once steadily hot housing market in the United States.

What goes up inevitably goes down, but is it actually a meltdown? LeSean McCoy and girlfriend discuss the market data in the following article.

New data from the National Association of Home Builders and the Wells Fargo Housing Market Index shows that home builder confidence in the U.S. dropped to 55 in July, down 12 points. Builder confidence has now dropped seven months in a row.

The new rating is the lowest level since May 2020. Other factors in falling housing market confidence include rising interest rates and high inflation. Interest rates had been at record lows for years during the COVID-19 pandemic leading to record-high home costs and mortgage payments.

The National Association of Home Builders says that the housing market in the United States is now displaying dramatically slower sales and falling buyer traffic and competition.

The group’s chairman says that about 14% of builders who participated in the survey said they’ve had to lower the prices of homes in the past month just to tempt buyers.

How bad it is going to get? Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics says that anyone who purchased a home in the past few months is likely going to sit on a big loss.

New Mortgages, New Home Builds Both Fall

More evidence of just how hot the housing market has been over the past two years: mortgage originations were a healthy $2.3 trillion in 2019 and then jumped to over $4 trillion in both 2020 and 2021.

Mortgage demand has now crumbled; it’s reportedly at its lowest level in over 20 years. On top of that, Redfin is reporting that the total inventory of homes for sale across the country recently notched its first yearly increase since July 2019.

In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the number of new houses under construction fell 2% last month to around 1.6 million.

That may seem like a low drop, but not when most projections from economics were for a 1.4% increase. Demand clearly is changing quickly.

Drops in Home Costs, Construction Employment

While many sectors of the United States economy struggled during the two-year COVID-19 pandemic, housing had remained not just steady but constantly growing.

According to U.S. News ; World Report, since the start of the pandemic, the median cost of a single-family home rose 30%, and mortgage rates were just 2.68% in 20202.

Construction industry employment surged as well. It was 6.5 million in April 220 and just last month it had hit 7.7 million.

Now that is changing — and quickly. Economic reports related to the housing market will continue to be released through the summer. The consensus seems to be that while the housing market was once red-hot it’s not really approaching meltdown territory yet.

Instead, call it lukewarm and cooling.

Final Word

But let’s end on a good note. There are many places in the United States still experiencing the benefits of a robust housing market, including this list of the top 10 states ranked by market stability. At the top: Florida (No. 3), Washington (No. 2), and Utah (No.1).

In a field where most players will retire before they turn 30, having a second act lined up is a necessity. For most retired pro athletes, it’s about prolonging their relevance, capitalizing on their fame, and keeping that cash stacked up for the rest of their lives.

So, what’s a professional sports personality to do? LeSean McCoy discuss what he believes are the top three second acts for former sports superstars.

Sports Commentary

Three-time Super Bowl winner and NFL Hall of Fame inductee Troy Aikman called time on his playing career in 2001. A broken leg, some close calls, and a serious enough head injury that he couldn’t remember the 1994 game that secured his team a place at the Super Bowl.

In a league where the average age of retirement is 27.6 years, Aikman was 34. He went on to join Fox as a commentator that year, before moving up to the network giant’s lead announcing crew the following year.

He’s been there ever since.

NBA Hall of Famer—and Michael Jordan’s Space Jam co-star—Charles Barkley is another stellar example. A retired pro athlete who managed to parlay his basketball prowess and charisma into a broadcasting career, he is best known on television for his Inside the NBA show, outspoken and honest commentary, and keen game analysis.

Coaching

Basketball fans of a certain age will remember Steve Kerr as a five-time NBA championship winning player—three times with the Chicago Bulls and twice with the San Antonio Spurs.

Younger generations will know him as the Golden State Warriors’ head coach—the guy that led them to victory in another four NBA championships.

Steve Kerr has coached the unstoppable Warriors franchise since 2014 but tried his hand at broadcasting following his 2003 retirement from the Spurs, too.

Lenny Wilkens is another pro athlete turned coach. He’s also been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame three times: as a player, as a coach, and as a member of the 1992 Dream Team’s coaching team. He once held the record for most victories as a coach—a staggering 1,322 wins.

As a coach, Wilkens earned a championship ring when the SuperSonics took out the NBA championship in 1979. He coached his team to 178 playoff games.

Business & Philanthropy

Usain Bolt is arguably the greatest sprinter of all time—and the current world record holder for the 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m relay. Following his post-Olympics retirement, Bolt focused on his entrepreneurial endeavors.

Bolt Mobility produces electric scooters, mobility devices, and the Bolt Nano minicar. And in his downtime? Usain “Lightning” Bolt produces dancehall music.

When making bank isn’t enough to keep a pro athlete in the entrepreneurial game, there’s always philanthropy.

Mo “The Hit Dog” Vaughn is a former MLB first baseman, three-time All-Star player, and 1995 American League MVP winner. Vaughn capitalized on his astronomical fame and beloved reputation when he retired from the sport at 35—a full 6-years above the average MLB retirement age.

He co-founded OMNI New York. OMNI works to renovate run-down and abandoned property and revive low socio-economic communities, with the end result of selling the properties back to the public at an affordable price.

Under Vaughn’s directorship, OMNI had rehabbed 1,200 units in The Bronx and Brooklyn by 2007. By 2020, that number had climbed to over 17,000 in the New York area.