A Childhood of Unimaginable Loss

Terry Glenn’s story doesn’t begin with a football in his hands or a crowd cheering his name. It begins with heartbreak — the kind no child should ever have to face.

Born on July 23, 1974, in Columbus, Ohio, Terry was raised in the shadows of poverty and instability. His early life was marked by hardship, but nothing could prepare him for the trauma that shattered his world at age 13: his mother was murdered. She was beaten to death by a man she had been dating. In a single moment, Terry became a child without a parent, without a protector, without a safe place to land.

From that point on, Terry entered the foster care system. Like thousands of other kids in the system, he bounced from place to place, carrying his pain silently. But even in the midst of grief and uncertainty, something flickered inside him — a drive to survive, and eventually, to soar.

He didn’t have much, but he had talent. And heart. And resilience.