Former NFL football players Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell are traveling across the country with a mission to educate students about healthy living.
The pair greeted students at were at Brandenburg Elementary School in Irving Wednesday to spread an important message to students to eat healthy and stay active.
Harris is a Pro Football Hall of Fame full back, he and his Penn State sidekick Lydell Mitchell are the owners of Super Bakery, which provides a lot of nutritional food items for Irving Independent School District.
"To start the day with energy from the food is very, very important because that's what really gives the brain power," said Harris.
Michael Rosenberger, the school district's director of food and nutrition services, said about 20,000 students receive free breakfast every day. That is more than half of the roughly 35,000 total students who are enrolled in Irving ISD schools.
"They might not have the means to have a proper breakfast, so it's a good start for our kids," said Brandenburg Elementary principal Yanira Oliveras. "It levels the playing field."
Oliveras also said about 84 percent of the students in the district are economically disadvantaged.
Harris had some other inspirational words for students.
"You need to explore and try to find your hidden talent. I never knew that I was going to be a football player," he said.
