LOS ANGELES -- In between Chargers recent offseason workouts, safety Derwin James Jr. leaned on his teammates for advice. James had agreed to be the commencement speaker at the University of Bridgeport -- his first commencement address -- and he needed an audience that wasn't his family to practice in front of as the speech neared.
Recently, that audience was safety Tony Jefferson. James rehearsed his speech in the locker room lounge days before Bridgeport's graduation.
"Tony said, 'Yeah, that's fire,'" James said while laughing.
The reassurance was all James needed. James gave the commencement address Saturday to undergraduate students from the University of Bridgeport at the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Connecticut.