So you want to be a professional athlete?

His eyelids felt heavier and heavier, and he fought to keep them open. But soon Rashaan Shehee, then a Kansas City Chiefs running back, was nodding off during a team meeting.

Shehee, now a health teacher at Bakersfield High, spoke to an audience of more than 80 local students at the 16th annual Leaders in Life Youth Conference, Thursday at the Rabobank Convention Center.