ScottyRo

The Builder

Deuce McAllister, Saints Running Back
Rick Olivier

MCALLISTER, 26, is helping to renovate the 82-year-old King Edward Hotel in Jackson, Miss. The native Mississipian graduated from Ole Miss, to which he recently donated $1 million.

ON THE RENOVATION It's been abandoned for a while [since the late 1960s], and city officials were throwing around the idea of restoring it. I got involved last year. Some said it shouldn't happen. Mississippi has gone through extremely racist times, and at this hotel black people weren't allowed to enter unless they were working or delivering. That was as late as 1967. I'm partners with HRI Properties Inc., a real-estate group, and we're going to turn it into office space, condos and apartments. It will help bring life to the downtown. We hope to have it done within two years.

ON BEING CRITICIZED FOR RESTORING A 'SYMBOL OF RACISM' I'm a big enough person to accept criticism. That we're at a point where minorities can own the building shows how far we've come. I believe we're doing something positive. Not only as a black person, but for Jackson and for Mississippi.

ON OPENING A NISSAN DEALERSHIP IN JACKSON THIS SUMMER I got involved through a friend who was a car dealer in Gulfport, Miss. I plan to be actively involved. The biggest thing in any business is how you treat your customers. If you treat them right, they'll come back. I can't say I'm greatly informed about dealerships and selling cars, but I'm learning.

ON THE TRUCKING BUSINESS My father, Carl, has been a truck driver for more than 30 years. He had taken me to 48 states by the time I was seven. He owns a few 18-wheelers. I own four and lease them out.

ON BEING A CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJOR There's a possibility I'll go to law school down the road. It depends on how these business endeavors play out.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...d_careers0214/

Interesting to see a little background info on Deuce.

baronm

symbol of racism my arse...but anyway-i hope he can restore it it\'s a nice building archetectually speaking...it\'s just that it\'s in a bad part of a bad town.