Los Angeles , California ( CNN ) -- The high school honor student and the NFL 's highest-paid defensive back stroll down the destitute streets of Skid Row . `` I can sell you something right quick , '' a drug dealer hisses . Another shouts , `` Gon na whoop your ass ! '' More expletives are hurled . Seventeen-year-old Kenneth Chancey is giving a tour to Nnamdi Asomugha , showing the NFL star the streets that he and his sister used to walk to get to school while living in a Skid Row homeless shelter . Prostitutes , addicts and drug dealers scatter . `` Camera ! Camera ! '' they shout . The two make it safely past the park , one of the roughest areas of Los Angeles . An orange soda whizzes through the air , nearly hitting the teen and the Oakland Raiders ' All-Pro cornerback worth $ 45 million . `` Wow , '' the teen says . `` I 'm sure they watch you every Sunday , and they do n't even recognize who you are . '' It is Kenneth 's inner strength and his love for education that have brought together this high school class president and NFL star . `` The thing I took away is how fearless he is , '' Asomugha said later . `` The things he 's been through are so big and so severe -- they were threatening our lives and throwing things at us on Skid Row . But it does n't bother him . `` His potential meter is at 1,000 right now . '' Escaping through education . Even while Kenneth lived on Skid Row , he dreamed of attending Harvard to become a neurosurgeon . When Asomugha saw Kenneth 's story on CNN , he wanted to help . He runs a foundation , the Asomugha College Tour for Scholars , that takes talented inner-city kids on tours of college campuses they otherwise would never be able to see . He 's helped get 25 teens into college over the last four years . On this day , he 's come to tell Kenneth that he will be among the 16 students traveling in the spring to visit schools in Washington , D.C. `` I 'm thankful to be able to give back , '' Asomugha said . Hours before the Skid Row tour , Asomugha traveled to Hollywood 's Helen Bernstein High School , where Kenneth is a starting running back in his senior year . They met at the school 's football stadium , where Asomugha told Kenneth in person . `` This smile on my face , '' Kenneth said , `` is a freaking good thing . This is awesome ! '' Asomugha leaned closer . `` You know who we 're working on now ? '' `` Obama ? '' Kenneth asked nervously . `` We have to , '' the NFL star replied . Kenneth 's fever-pitched excitement reached a crescendo , `` Oh my gosh ! '' His father , Gordon Costello , joined in and handed a folded paper to Asomugha . The proud dad did n't show off football awards or his son 's athletic achievements . Instead , it 's Kenneth 's latest report card , straight A 's . `` He might overqualify for the tour , '' Asomugha said as he studied the report card . `` This shows someone with a lot of drive and ambition . These are some great grades . '' `` I 'm at a loss for words , '' the teen said . `` Stuff like this does n't happen every day . '' Asomugha came from a family where education was stressed from day one . He remembers asking his mom as a boy , `` Can I have some ice cream ? '' `` No , '' she responded . `` You have n't finished your homework . '' `` I 'd say , 'but I 'm 3 ! ' `` Asomugha 's sister is a pediatrician , his mother holds a doctorate . Two other siblings have secondary degrees . `` I am the least educated in my family , '' Asomugha said . `` I catch a lot of heat from my family . '' The football star , who is the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history , has a degree in finance from the University of California-Berkeley . Kenneth is energized . `` I 'm going to be the first one in my family to get a secondary education , '' he told Asomugha . `` And everyone will follow you , '' his father added . Kenneth spent his sixth-grade year living in a van with his mother and stepfather . His sister once was beaten up by someone who wanted her shirt . Kenneth was held up at gunpoint for his laptop . He refused to hand it over because his grandmother bought it for him . `` If you 're going to shoot me , shoot me now , '' he told the would-be thief . `` He said , ' I ai n't gon na kill no little kid . ' `` Mantra : Always keep your head up . From February to August of this year , Kenneth lived at the Union Rescue Mission homeless shelter along Skid Row with his father and sister . After the CNN piece aired , his friend invited him and his sister , Stephanie , to stay with his family , while Kenneth 's father looked for work . Outside Kenneth 's earshot , the NFL star talked about how the teen is an inspiration , doing all the right things to achieve greatness in life . `` You do n't hear about guys like Kenneth , '' Asomugha said . `` When you have your back against the wall and you 're trying to fight and there are so many things -- so many obstacles -- against you but you 're still keeping your head above the water like he 's doing ... the sky 's the limit . '' Kenneth says he constantly thought about dropping out to get a job to help his father financially . His dad would have none of it . `` Your education will pay off in the long run , '' his father always told him . On the tour at Skid Row , Kenneth took Asomugha to the shelter 's rooftop . It 's a million-dollar view of the Los Angeles skyline . It 's where Kenneth studied . It 's also where he learned his biggest lesson : to always keep his head up . The student and the football player leaned over the building 's ledge . Down below , drug deals were being made . `` Anytime you look down over the ledge , you start to see the negative , '' Asomugha said . `` When you keep your head up , you 're seeing all the positive . Was that your mantra ? '' The teen smiled . `` That 's how you do it in life , '' Kenneth said . `` I just try to keep my head up , to look into the future . '' Five years from now , he 'll be graduating from college . The hell of Skid Row will be a distant memory . `` Once I succeed , '' he said , `` I will be able to help other people . '' CNN 's Traci Tamura and Gregg Canes contributed to this report .
NFL star Nnamdi Asomugha decides to help homeless teen after CNN report . The former Baltimore Ravens player is now the CEO of his own nonprofit organization called Project Homeless Youth USA. Asomugha will take Chancey and 19 other inner-city kids on college tour in spring .