Why Panthers’ Brandon Zylstra wants to help Black high school students pay for college

Brandon Zylstra knows how tough it is to achieve your dream when there are obstacles in the way.

Zylstra went to a Division III college, paid his way through school, went to the Canadian Football League and is now entering his fourth year in the NFL as a wide receiver and special teams player — the third with the Panthers.

But he’s the first to admit that he doesn’t know what it’s like to experience racism. That’s part of the reason he had conversations with his friends and teammates who were Black. And it’s why he’s establishing a scholarship to help Black students who aspire to go to college and have faced adversity.

“I didn’t know racism was as prevalent as it actually is until social media became more popular and people started sharing videos and documenting everything,” Zylstra said.

Zylstra, who is from Spicer, Minnesota — less than two hours from Minneapolis — said he was moved to help after seeing the video of George Floyd’s murder and the reaction across the country.

“It just hit close to home,” he said, adding that he started having conversations with his friends. Through those conversations, he learned more about their stories and how they experienced racism. He wanted to help.

His marketing team recommended he look at bold.org, a website where people can create scholarships for students to help fight student debt. He found out that while the national retention rate for college students is 76%, it’s even lower for Black students. According to nsresearchcenter.org, only 52.1% of Black students return to the college they started at.

Zylstra liked the idea of starting a scholarship, because he, too, is still paying off college debt.

He created “The Road Less Traveled Scholarship,” which will award two scholarships to Black high school students.

His goal was to raise $2,000. But since establishing the scholarship, he has raised $8,000 — $4,000 for each student. The new goal is to raise $10,000.

He plans to help pick the winner.

In our latest Panthers Tracks podcast, Zylstra discussed the scholarship, his 2020 season, and why he helps. Here is an excerpt from the interview. It has been lightly edited and shortened for clarity:

One thing I’ve always noticed is you and Joey Slye, who during the national anthem, always put your hand on the shoulder of your Black teammates who are protesting police brutality. What went into your decision to do that.

For me, it stems back to the George Floyd thing in March (2020). From having different conversations with some of my friends. Seeing when this time comes up, what would be a good way to show support ... I just wanted to be there for my teammates. I didn’t want anybody to feel like they were fighting this battle on their own.

Stephen Weatherly was the first person I saw kneel Day 1. I went over to him and just put my hands on his shoulder. I just wanted to let him know I was there for him ... That was just my way of showing my respect and showing my support to them. ... I want to help.

Do you feel like there’s something you learned that you didn’t realize a year ago through talking with people?

I’ve learned a ton. If that’s the biggest thing people can get out of this conversation, it’s just go listen. Just go talk to people. See what they’ve been through. People always talk about white privilege. You might not realize it until you start hearing stories from the other side of things. It’s like, ‘Oh, wow. I really have it easy in these kinds of situations ... ’

Your former teammate Teddy Bridgewater was traded recently. What was your initial reaction?

I was just going out to go catch punts, and my mom texted me and goes, ‘Hey, how do you feel about Teddy being traded.’ I go, ‘what are you talking about? I don’t know anything about that.’ And then I get out to the field, and there’s a Denver receiver out there and his first thing is, ‘Hey, we just go you guy’s quarterback.’ ... It’s a crazy business. A lot of uncontrollable stuff. I wish Teddy nothing but the best. He was a great teammate to have. He was a great leader. I think a lot of guys looked up to him, a lot of guys respected him.

What was your favorite moment from the 2020 season? I know you had that nice punt fake in the Kansas City game.

It wasn’t that because I should have scored, and I got so much flak from everybody for not scoring. ... I’m going to say making it through that camp last year. It was a super-stacked receiver room. It was an extremely hard competitive camp. One of the harder ones I’ve been through, at least in the professional setting. ... To be able to make it through there, it was something I was definitely proud of, because I think going into the year, I’m pretty sure they didn’t have me making it through. I’m pretty sure they had me last on the depth chart at a receiver.

What do you think it took for you to get onto the roster?

It’s definitely just buying into what the coaches want. It took a little bit to learn exactly what they are looking for. But once I got it, I was just like, they truly want tough, hardworking, competitive guys. Granted, that’s already in my DNA already anyway. But with all these super hungry guys at camp, everybody is paying to feed their families and set up their futures. Or set up generational wealth. There’s a lot of competition going on, but I thrive in competition. ... I told myself I wasn’t going to be denied, and ended up coming through.

What are your expectations for yourself?

It’s definitely just to build off what I have been doing. Everybody has this dream to make a splash, but you’re dealing with the top 1% in the world. So it’s a lot harder than it seems. But I’ve been able to build a little bit every year. It might just take one play to put your name out there ... Just be a reliable guy. If they need me to go in there and be the No. 2 receiver for that week, that’s what I’ll do. If they don’t need me to not play this week and only do specials, that’s what I’ll do. I’m a role-type player. Whatever you need me to do, I’m going to get it done.

Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this report.