Former Golden Eagle turned Philadelphia Eagle Andre Chachere on 'Never Give Up' Mentality

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Andre Charere prepped at Clovis West and played cornerback at San Jose State. The Golden Eagle totaled 122 tackles, three forced fumbles and seven interceptions and after going undrafted in 2018, has played for six different NFL teams.

"Everybody I talk to, this is what I tell them: if you have a minute, we can really go over how crazy the NFL is," he said.

Andre's older brother, Mitchell, is McLane's boys' basketball coach, who talked to his team about the adversity he's faced.

"They think it's just glamour and all these things, so when I'm able to sit down, talk to them and tell them the real life behind it, you see their faces like, 'Oh wow, that's how it is.'"

The cornerback says his main message is to never give up.

"I've been cut 8-9 times," he said. "It was all motivation to work harder, do more, do extra. Whether you get drafted, you don't get drafted, whether you're cut right now during OTAs, never give up. Never let that door shut all the way. Keep it open and keep it going."

Last year was a whirlwind for the Fresno native. The Colts signed him to their 53-man roster then cut him the next day. 24 hours later, he was signed by the Eagles.

"When I made it, I called my mom crying," he said. "I made it -- then the next day, I called her crying saying I got cut and then the next day, my mom just picked me up. Finally having that weigh lifted off, there's a team that thinks I'm good enough, I can't describe how it felt."

This March, Philadelphia signed him to a one year contract. With nothing guaranteed, he's looking forward to impressing at training camp.

"For me now, every year, it's make the 53-man roster," Chachere said. "From there, my goals will change weekly. Right now, my first goal is make the roster and we'll go from there."

His new home is in Philly but makes sure to always represent the Valley.

"The guys ask, 'Oh, you're from California?' and I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm from Fresno.' They're like, 'What is that?' Not a lot of people know where Fresno is, what Fresno is, so that fact that I get to represent the city, it's awesome."