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When Broderick McGrew graduated from Hearne High School in 1996, football was his only hope. He knew his family didn't have the money to send him to college; his father was no longer in the picture, so it was only him, his mother and his brother and sister at home, and the three often didn't know where their next meal would come from. McGrew had two choices: football or the Army, and he said he wouldn't have fared well in the latter. Luckily, he was blessed with "being tall and being fast," he said, and went to the University of North Texas on a football scholarship. He delayed graduating to play professionally with the Oakland Raiders for nearly two years, then for Berlin and Amsterdam for NFL Europe. But in 2002, McGrew returned to get his degree in applied training and technology development, because, to him, education was the goal, and football was just a blueprint, he said. "My whole thing for going to school was to finish, because nobody in my family had done it, I'm the first one," he said. "So far, the only one." For the past 13 years, the Hearne graduate has been back in his hometown. As the principal of Hearne Elementary, McGrew is one of three administrators in the district to have grown up and graduated from Hearne High School. This year, he's joined by two others who returned to serve their alma mater and its current students -- many of whom are the sons and daughters of their high school classmates. Read more: http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/former-hearne-students-enjoying-new-roles-in-school-district/article_b288e360-23a3-523d-86e2-f84b530dbf87.html?mode=jqm