'Man of the community': Dolphins' Raheem Mostert hosts business summit at alma mater
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — When Raheem Mostert entered the National Football League, he went to friend Brandon Cottom, whose family owns a large security firm in Pennsylvania, and asked them a simple question.
“How did you become successful?”
“I wanted to just see what they did to solidify who they are and what they did to be successful,” Mostert said. “They gave me the nuggets, so I just carried them on.”
He passed those nuggets on to the next generation Friday.
The Miami Dolphins running back hosted the Waves of Success Summit at New Smyrna Beach High School, his alma mater. Mostert brought a panel of eight other professionals — realtors, accountants, sports agents, fashion designers and more — to talk about how they blossomed in their respective fields. They discussed networking, mindset and work ethic.
The school’s entire junior class attended a nearly hour-long assembly. After that, a few dozen select students stuck around and broke into small groups with the panelists.
“They don’t necessarily have to be an athlete to be successful,” Mostert said. “I think that’s the biggest thing I wanted to emphasize. You don’t have to be a celebrity to be successful.”
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Mostert and his wife, Devon, started the Waves of Success Foundation last year and have put on multiple events. They organized a charity bowling outing in Davie last fall and followed with toy drives in Davie and New Smyrna Beach in mid-December.
Friday’s summit actually spawned from a request by New Smyrna Beach Principal Timothy Merrick. Merrick texted Mostert about six weeks ago and asked if he’d be willing to speak in a graduation video for the current seniors.
Mostert said yes — as he’s done many times in the past, Merrick said. The next day, Mostert called Merrick and pitched the summit.
“He’s a man of the community,” Merrick said. “He’s not just about himself. He’s given back to this school in other ways, even when he was (with the San Francisco 49ers from 2016-2021). He’s like, ‘Now that I’m here in Miami and it’s much closer, I can do more than when I was there because I can get in my car and hop on the road and come here.’”
Mostert, 31, graduated from New Smyrna Beach in 2011 and earned a scholarship to Purdue University, where he played football and ran track.
But after four years, he was not chosen in the 2015 NFL Draft. He bounced around to seven teams in his first two seasons in the league before securing a role with the 49ers.
In the spring of 2022, he signed with the Dolphins. He rushed for a career-high 891 yards and three touchdowns last year.
Miami serves as his full-time home now, but he still has plenty of family and friends in Volusia County.
“He’s never gotten bigger than himself,” Merrick said. “He’s still the same Raheem he was when he was here.”
Mostert also committed to new Nike game jerseys and cleats for the Barracudas’ football team next season and announced he and the school are setting up a scholarship for a rising senior.
He doesn’t remember any events like Friday’s from his time at New Smyrna Beach. That was part of his inspiration to hold the summit.
“I wanted to be able to just give back to the kids and also give them information and tools and techniques from other professionals, not only myself, that are in different fields that are very successful,” Mostert said. “I wanted to come out and just help.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Miami Dolphins' Raheem Mostert hosts business summit at alma mater
