The summer before his senior year at Leesville Road High School, Braxton Berrios said in an interview he wanted to leave a legacy and be remembered in his community.

On Friday night, that legacy was cemented.

In front of a sold out crowd before the Pride’s basketball game against Sanderson, Leesville Road retired Berrios’ No. 8 jersey, hanging a banner on the wall for all future Leesville Road students to see.

Berrios, joined by his family, friends, former coaches, and high school teammates, spoke to the crowd, sharing some thoughts about his time at Leesville Road and the impact his experience playing high school football has had on his entire football career.

“It feels amazing to be back,” Berrios said. “So many memories here, around this campus, so to do what we did today was really cool.”

Berrios was a four-year varsity player at Leesville Road. He played college football for four seasons at Miami, then was drafted by the New England Patriots. So far, he’s played seven seasons in the NFL, including stops with the New York Jets and now the Miami Dolphins.

Football has taken Berrios across the country. He’s played in huge stadiums, both indoors and outdoors, and he’s even played in other countries. But through it all, he says high school football is the version of the sport that is most special to him.

“It’s just different. I think the pureness of the sport and the camaraderie is there. You know, you go to school with these kids, you’re in class, you all have a life pretty much surroundd by each other. Everybody there is playing for the love the game,” Berrios said. “Going out there on Friday nigths and having everybody you go to school with and everybody you see in your community up there (in the bleachers), it’s special.”

It was clear Berrios was a special talent when he was in high school. He recorded 5,666 yards of total offense and 82 total touchdowns in his four years at Leesville Road. He received conference player of the year honors twice, was on the all-conference team all four years, and was selected to both the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas and the Under Armour All-American Game.

Nearly every college in the country would have taken Berrios out of high school, but if you had told the high school version of Braxton Berrios that he would have a long NFL career, he may not have believed you.

“I obviously put the work in, I did all those things, but I think luck and goodwill has a bit to do with it as well,” he said.

Berrios said starting on both sides of the ball as a freshman in high school was when he realized he could potentially play in college. It wasn’t until he got to college he started seriously thinking about the NFL though.

“A lot of things have to fall your way. You have to be pretty much injury-free. You have to get lucky a little bit along the way,” said Berrios. “Probably midway through college I was like, ‘Wait, I think I can do this again.’ And once you get into the league, it’s about finding a way to stay there.”

That’s the hard part for most people who make it to the NFL. Seven seasons in the NFL is much longer than the average stay in the league, which is about three years.

“Find your niche, whatever it is, right? If it’s a returner, if it’s a receiver, if it’s strictly special teams — and that’s what I tell a lot of the young kids these days, like even in college, the first way onto the field is special teams. Period,” Berrios said.

Finding a way to stay in the NFL was a challenge at first for Berrios. After being drafted by the Patriots, the team eventually cut him after his rookie season. He said that’s when he began to understand the NFL was really a business.

“It’s a numbers game. They play chess with people sometimes, and the more you’re in it, the more you realize what’s going on. But it feels like you’ve failed, right? And I always tell anybody who asks, that shouldn’t be a bad thing,” said Berrios.

He admits it didn’t feel good in the moment, but ultimately, it was just the move he needed. The New York Jets quickly added Berrios to the roster. He played in New York for four seasons, which he said were his best seasons in the league so far in terms of production.

Once again, Berrios faced the challenge of finding a way to stay in the league when the Jets released him in March 2023. Days later, the Miami Dolphins signed him to a one-year contract. After the 2023 season, he re-signed with the Dolphins.

Berrios is currently on the injured reserve list for Miami as he recovers from a torn ACL, which he suffered in a game against the Indianapolis Colts this season. He plans to return to the field in the fall for his eighth NFL season though.

“You know, I used to think I wanted to (play in the NFL) eight seasons,” he said. “But now that I’m getting to that, I’m thinking like ten.”

However long Berrios’ NFL career lasts, the mark he left on his Leesville Road community will last forever.

As Berrios closed his remarks to the crowd in the gymnasium on Friday night, he said he’s often asked by younger players what the secret to success is.

“If I told you there was one, I’d be lying,” Berrios said. “But there is a commonality I’ve known in my life and the people I’ve studied with all their successes, and it revolves around sacrifice. What are you willing to give up to be who you want to be? Because no goal is too big if your willingness to work matches it.”

“So what I would say … is don’t be afriad to talk about your goals, don’t be afraid to prioritize them, and don’t be afraid to sacrifice some things along the way to reach them. Because if you do those things, one day you’ll be somewhere speaking to a room full of people telling them that every sacrifice you made was all worth it in the end.”

And that’s how Berrios got to where he is today. He had a dream, he chased it. He prioritized it. He sacrificed for it. And on Friday night, he gathered in a room full of people to celebrate a meaningful impact he had on his community.

For Braxton Berrios, it was all worth it in the end.