NC Central's Juan Velarde using his journey from Peru to the gridiron to inspire others

Florida Gators legend Tim Tebow unveiled the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

North Carolina Central University is not the blue-blood college football powerhouse team fans are likely to watch on Saturday afternoons as they match up against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and other FCS schools.

Still, the Eagles boast a solid roster of players and enter Saturday’s game against Campbell with a 3-1 record and are coming off a 45-3 shellacking of Mississippi Valley State. The team is winning off the field as well. 

Punter Juan Velarde was named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team earlier this month.

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Juan Velarde points to the sideline. (NCCU Athletics/Kevin Dorsey)

Velarde was honored, along with other college football players like Michigan running back Blake Corum, Clemson running back Will Shipley and Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey, for sharing his story about coming to the United States from Peru as a teenager, not knowing anything about the sport until junior year of high school and then making a Division I program.

He became an inspiration both on and off the football field.

Velarde told Fox News Digital in a recent interview he wanted to excel on the field but found that the community around the university in Durham, North Carolina, offered a lot more.

"When I got here, I found this amazing Hispanic community where a lot of them are immigrants. A lot of them are first-generation immigrants so not a lot of them go to college," Velarde said, adding that to graduate from the university students need to have 120 hours of community service, and it makes people really go out and connect with the community.

"Let me make an impact on somebody else’s life. You