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RIGHT TIME. ALL MY LIFE I’VE BEEN IN LIKE YOU CAN SAY, THE INNER CITY OF CINCINNATI. SO LIKE ABBEYDALE, DOWNTOWN AND JARRED HILL, THE SCHOOL, IT HAD SO MANY PROGRAMS. THEY WANT YOU TO GROW. AND I WAS LIKE, YOU CARE ABOUT ME. BRY HALL CAN DETECT WHEN PEOPLE CARE. THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY SOPHOMORE CLAIMS SHE’S NEVER LEAVING THE CINCINNATI AREA, HELPING KIDS WHO WERE ONCE JUST LIKE HERSELF IS TOO IMPORTANT. BUT BEING A COLLEGE POSED A PROBLEM. SHE DIDN’T HAVE A VEHICLE AND AND DIDN’T HAVE AN ABILITY TO LIKE A OUTLET TO GO GET SOME HOURS IN. AND SHE WANTED TO TAKE HER DRIVING TEST BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO GO WORK. BENGALS WIDE RECEIVER TRENT IRWIN ORIGINALLY MET BRY A FEW YEARS BACK AT SATURDAY. HOOPS, ONE OF CINCINNATI’S MOST SUCCESSFUL YOUTH OUTREACH PROGRAMS. AND AHEAD OF THIS SEASON, HE DREW UP HIS BEST ROUTE YET. HE SAID, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF I HELP YOU WITH DRIVING? AND I WAS LIKE, ARE YOU SERIOUS? BECAUSE, LIKE, PEOPLE DON’T REALLY DO THAT. I GOT MY LITTLE TOYOTA CAMRY OUT HERE. I WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE GET A COUPLE SCRATCHES ON THAT PUPPY. WE’LL BE FINE. UNBEKNOWNST TO HIS TEAMMATES, ONCE A WEEK AFTER PRACTICE THROUGHOUT THE SPRING AND SUMMER, IRWIN BRY AND A MUTUAL FRIEND, KELSEY HIT GO KART TRACKS, PARKING LOTS, ANYTHING WITH PAVEMENT TO PROVE SHE COULD DO IT. GET THE GANG HELPING ME DRIVE. YOU’RE CRUISING AROUND WITH THE BENGALS PLAYER AT WHAT POINT DO PEOPLE ON THE SIDEWALK START REALIZING WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? THAT WAS A LIE. I WAS. I WAS A LITTLE I WAS SCARED BECAUSE I WAS LIKE, WHICH ONE IS THE DRIVER PEDAL? WHICH WAY IS THE BRAKING PEDAL? HE WAS LIKE, I WAS ALWAYS HOLDING THE LITTLE HANDLES. SHE MADE FUN OF ME FOR DOING THAT, BUT I FELT LIKE A PARENT IN THE FRONT SEAT, HOLDING THE HANDLE, STEPPING ON THE BRAKE. THAT DOESN’T EXIST, LOGGING THE HOURS AND A FEW ADVENTUROUS PIT STOPS. BRY FOUNDER GROOVE. AND THAT’S WHEN IRWIN RECEIVED THE BEST NEWS. SHE PASSED IT THERE, SO SHE GOT HER LICENSE. THAT WAS JUST HUGE. IT’D BE EASY ON THE ACCELERATOR. YEAH. BRY IS PROUD TO SHARE ANOTHER UPDATE. SHE SAVED UP AND RECENTLY BOUGHT HER FIRST CAR RIDING ALONG WITH THIS STORY. PROOF THAT THE TIME YOU GIVE TO OTHERS SPEAK LEADS PAST ANY OTHER GIFT. THAT’S DEFINITELY EVERYBODY’S LIKE YOUR FRIENDS WITH A BENGALS PLAYER. AND I’M LIKE, YEAH, THIS IS MY FRIEND TRINA IRWIN. HE’S A GREAT PERSON.

NFL player goes extra mile to help college student get her driver’s license

It’s an unlikely friendship between an NFL wide receiver and a Kentucky college student. Bry Hall, a sophomore at Northern Kentucky University, and Trenton Irwin, of the Cincinnati Bengals, first met years ago at a program called Saturday Hoops, which welcomes kids from across Cincinnati to a positive environment of athletics, reading, and arts at no charge. When she was a college freshman, faced with the obstacle of living several miles from campus and wanting to make a difference in her community, she opened up to Irwin about her setback of not being able to drive.”She didn’t have a vehicle and didn’t have an outlet to go get some driving hours in,” Irwin recalled. “She wanted to take her driver’s test because she wanted to go work.”Hoping Irwin may just lend some advice, Hall was stunned to hear his offer.”He was like, ‘How would you feel if I help you with driving?” Hall said. “I said, ‘Are you serious!?’ Because people don’t really do that.”From there, the driving lessons started. Once a week following Bengals offseason workouts, Irwin left Paycor Stadium and met Hall and a fellow Saturday Hoops representative named Kelsey, together hitting go-kart tracks, parking lots, and any piece of open pavement around NKU’s campus to get the required hours complete ahead of taking the Ohio driver’s test.”We would use Trent’s car, and it was like, ‘Wow!’, he trust me with his car? I am not going to lie, I was scared because at the start I said to him, ‘Which one is the driving pedal and which one is the braking pedal?’ And he was like, ‘Oh! We have to teach you the basics, don’t we?'”In the passenger seat, Irwin didn’t seem worried.”I have my little Toyota Camry out here, and if we get a couple scratches on that puppy, we will be fine,” Irwin said. “I was always holding the little handles on top of the door. She made fun of me for doing that. I felt like a parent, holding the handle, stepping on the brake that doesn’t exist.”Logging the hours behind the wheel, along with a few adventurous pit stops, Hall found her groove. Then, in late June, Irwin received the best news: She passed. “It is huge,” Irwin said. “To be able to have that freedom, hopefully take that next step, meeting people, advancing in your job, hopefully that can get you there… At the end of the day, it’s about opportunity.”Watch the video above to learn more about this story.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. —

It’s an unlikely friendship between an NFL wide receiver and a Kentucky college student.

Bry Hall, a sophomore at Northern Kentucky University, and Trenton Irwin, of the Cincinnati Bengals, first met years ago at a program called Saturday Hoops, which welcomes kids from across Cincinnati to a positive environment of athletics, reading, and arts at no charge.

When she was a college freshman, faced with the obstacle of living several miles from campus and wanting to make a difference in her community, she opened up to Irwin about her setback of not being able to drive.

“She didn’t have a vehicle and didn’t have an outlet to go get some driving hours in,” Irwin recalled. “She wanted to take her driver’s test because she wanted to go work.”

Hoping Irwin may just lend some advice, Hall was stunned to hear his offer.

“He was like, ‘How would you feel if I help you with driving?” Hall said. “I said, ‘Are you serious!?’ Because people don’t really do that.”

From there, the driving lessons started. Once a week following Bengals offseason workouts, Irwin left Paycor Stadium and met Hall and a fellow Saturday Hoops representative named Kelsey, together hitting go-kart tracks, parking lots, and any piece of open pavement around NKU’s campus to get the required hours complete ahead of taking the Ohio driver’s test.

“We would use Trent’s car, and it was like, ‘Wow!’, he trust me with his car? I am not going to lie, I was scared because at the start I said to him, ‘Which one is the driving pedal and which one is the braking pedal?’ And he was like, ‘Oh! We have to teach you the basics, don’t we?'”

In the passenger seat, Irwin didn’t seem worried.

“I have my little Toyota Camry out here, and if we get a couple scratches on that puppy, we will be fine,” Irwin said. “I was always holding the little handles on top of the door. She made fun of me for doing that. I felt like a parent, holding the handle, stepping on the brake that doesn’t exist.”

Logging the hours behind the wheel, along with a few adventurous pit stops, Hall found her groove. Then, in late June, Irwin received the best news: She passed.

“It is huge,” Irwin said. “To be able to have that freedom, hopefully take that next step, meeting people, advancing in your job, hopefully that can get you there… At the end of the day, it’s about opportunity.”

Watch the video above to learn more about this story.