Need A Hero? Try Brian Stann

Way too many athletes today are proving to be poor role models, and in some cases even coaches (I'm looking at you Bobby Petrino), and there's plenty of argument whether they should even be looked at as role models anyway. But truth is that if you're in the spotlight, especially sports, kids are going to look up to you and follow your example. Need a good one to point to your kids? Try Brian Stann. This guy is my hero.

Who? He's an American mixed martial artist and U.S. Marine who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This guy is everything I'd want a kid to be. In the fall of 2010, Stann published his memoir "Heart for the Fight: A Marine Hero's Journey from the Battlefields of Iraq to Mixed Martial Arts Champion". Written with military historian John R. Bruning, "Heart for the Fight" details Stann's experiences as a youth growing up in Scranton, PA, playing football for the U.S. Naval Academy, serving honorably as a decorated Marine in Iraq, and becoming WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. Go find it and read it.

Brian has been decorated with the Silver Star -- an award honoring valor in combat.

Check this out:

"In SB Nation's new series "Core of Sports" sponsored by the United States Marine Corps, we followed UFC fighter Brian Stann as he trained to fight Alessio Sakara in Atlanta after his brother-in-law passed away. Stann won the fight and even called the referee in after knocking out Sakara with short elbows in the first round."

Shot on a RED Epic. Narrated by Eric Thomas.