From Chicago's South Side to West Point: Ahmad Bradshaw found his calling as Army's quarterback

CHICAGO - While Ahmad Bradshaw was in elementary school on the South Side of Chicago, his mother, Kizzy Collins, was taking classes toward a degree at DeVry University.

"He'd bring home his report card," she recalled, "and we'd compete for grades."

The two shared a desire to be educated - and to be safe.

A single mom with a lone child, Collins moved with Ahmad from 63rd and King Drive to 76th and Colfax to 47th and Champlain to 44th and Prairie. The motive was grim: to stay a step ahead of the gun-violence epidemic that would claim Ahmad's friend Jamiere