Sam Acho is an author, a public speaker, a humanitarian, an in-studio analyst for ESPN, a nine-year NFL veteran and a committed Christian. He’s also the Director of Human Capital for AWM Capital.

Sam was recently inducted into the University of Texas Athletics Hall of Honor, having played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received the William V. Campbell Trophy for being college football’s top scholar-athlete. He also won the NCAA Top VIII Award, which recognizes the top eight student-athletes in all of sports and was named the 2010 Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year. In 2011, Sam was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and played four seasons as a linebacker with the team. He then signed with the Chicago Bears for the 2015–2016 season and played four years there before spending the 2019 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2016 and 2017, Sam was the Bears’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, the league’s only award that recognizes both civic and professional contributions. Sam served on the leadership committee for both the Cardinals and the Bears. He was also vice president of the NFL Players Association, an organization in which he served since his second year in the NFL.