If you do not follow the NHL then you probably do not know Don Brashear. He is currently a left wing player for the Washington Capitals, NHL hockey team.
Don was born in Indiana, in 1972, to a married Caucasian Canadian woman and her African American husband. Shortly there after, his parents divorced and his mother returned to Canada. Don stayed behind with his father. His father was an alcoholic and his paternal grandmother sent him to Canada to live with his mother. In Montreal, he attended public school for the first time.
His mother soon remarried and his new stepfather was abusive so he went into foster care. For a little boy, Don was a handful. In 1980, at the age of eight, finding himself at his third foster family, Don finally found a family, with three brothers and a sister to raise him. That summer, he took instantly to playing street hockey with his new brothers. Come winter his parents offered him ice skating lessons so he could play ice hockey with his brothers. In two months, he was ready to play and soon they were playing other neighborhood teams. Who would have known then that a star had been born?
In 1992, at the age of 20 he signed on the NHL team, the Montreal Canadians as a free agent. He has since gone on to play with the Vancouver Canucks, the Philadelphia Flyers, and in 2006, he signed on with the Washington Capitals. He plays an aggressive game and in 2004, he got the most penalty minutes in history. Despite this, he continues to play.
At the age of 36, he is still playing with passion much like when he was younger.
