From Homelessness to the NFL, QB 'Whisperer' Quincy Avery's Shares His 'Resilient' Journey in New Doc (Exclusive)
Quincy Avery
Quincy Avery doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Not even from himself.
So when the former Morehouse College quarterback graduated and found himself without a job in 2008, he drove to California and talked himself into an unpaid coaching position with the UCLA football team and began working his way up the ranks. All the while, Avery was sleeping in his car and living out of the team's locker room.
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It's a determination that likely came from Avery's mom, the now successful quarterback coach tells PEOPLE in a new interview. In similar fashion, Avery's mom once talked her way into a job at Xerox when he was a kid and his family needed the work.
She went on to become one of the best salespeople at the company, Avery, now 38, explains. He went on to become known as the NFL's 'quarterback whisperer' and the man behind some of the best players in the league, from recent Super Bowl champion Jalen Hurts, Houston Texans star C.J. Stroud and Green Bay Packers starter Jordan Love, among others around the NFL.
'That story's stuck with me for a long time,' Avery says about his mom. 'She just didn't leave. It's like, I saw her do it. I saw her sacrifice so much. And it's like, who would I be to not live in her footsteps?'
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Quincy Avery/Instagram Quincy Avery
Quincy Avery
Avery's own resilient journey from homelessness to the NFL is being told with a new Andscape and Religion of Sports documentary, 'The Quincy Avery Effect,' streaming on Hulu starting April 23.
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'It's about the willingness to keep putting yourself out there, keep hearing no, and keep being resilient,' Avery says about his life story. It's a story about perseverance and then it's also about the way that you can have an impact on people if you really put them first in all that you're doing.'
Avery says the tribulations he's faced in his life have helped him connect to a deeper side of NFL stars like Hurts, 26, and even Patrick Mahomes, who he briefly coached before the 2017 NFL Draft.
'There's really difficult moments for these guys that they experience all the time, and there's not many people that they can share those things with, so it's me being able to be there as a sounding board and being able to give them advice in these moments,' he says. 'And I think that they trust me, because they know that I've been through things too, like really difficult situations and they know it's without judgment and it's like I'm a brother. I'm gonna stick by their side at all times.'
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Avery spent several seasons with UCLA before driving back to Atlanta, where he now lives, to start the QB Takeover quarterback program.
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'I saw my calling to train quarterbacks,' Avery says, a former collegiate quarterback himself. 'So, I moved back to Atlanta without any money and continued living out of my car for two more years. It was just the chase to get the first client. I knew that I was going to be able to do something special, I just couldn't get that first person to be willing to see what I had to offer.'
Since then, the self-described quarterback 'guru' has trained more than 700 quarterbacks since launching the training program, helping more than 100 earn scholarships with college football teams.
Related: New Orleans Saints' Khalen Saunders Hosting LGBTQ-Friendly Youth Football Camp: 'Football Is for All'
Some of the names he's worked with include Hurts, Mahomes, Stroud, Love and New York Jets starter Justin Fields, helping lead to a surge in Black quarterbacks at the forefront of the NFL.
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Avery, who grew up idolizing Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon, hopes his story can remind others to keep pushing through hard times in order to achieve their dreams.
'I never really thought about stopping, because I kept saying what I was gonna do,' Avery says. 'I would see people on TV or YouTube doing what I wanted to do, and I knew that I could do that. And I always thought to myself, my words and my actions must be congruent in everything that I say. So, if I keep saying that I think that I could be the best person in the world at this and if I gave up now, if I didn't push through, if I didn't go through the things that need to happen in order for me to see that through, I didn't think that I could look at myself in the mirror.'
Related: Travis Kelce Is 'Training Like Crazy' After Deciding Against Retirement, Says Coach Andy Reid
Now, Avery will see himself on the big screen when 'The Quincy Avery Effect' premieres later this month.
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'This film is about more than just football — it's about the relentless pursuit of excellence,' director Bryant Robinson said in a statement. 'It's a powerful story of growth, resilience, and transformation.'
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