Growing up Chris Schulman needed an escape. He lived a rough childhood.
“Schulman’s mother, Sandra Gregory, died from a stroke, which was aided by constant drug and alcohol use. Gregory-Schulman’s birth father, James Howard, is currently in prison due to drug-related activity,” wrote the Tampa Tribune in a story published in late May.
Growing up he was aware of the situation at home and wanted to get out. He was removed from his home in St. Petersburg and placed in a foster home in New Port Richey. He attended Gulf High School for his freshman and sophomore years, but things didn’t get much easier.
“Freshman year I lived in a group home, but it was a very bad environment,” Schulman said he did everything he could to stay out of the house. “I played every sport possible. I had no intentions of being some big athlete; I just wanted to stay out of the house.”
As it turns out, getting out of the house led Schulman to a new life. He became close with Gulf basketball coach Paul Schulman. His best friend at Gulf was Lexy Schulman, Paul’s daughter who is the same age as Chris.
“She had no idea what I was going through. I was quite and humble,” Chris said. He didn’t want his secret to get out. She eventually found out about his situation and after a football game during his sophomore year the family invited him to dinner.
“At the restaurant they just all said they wanted to adopt me,” he said. “I was very shocked. My heart dropped.”
He moved in with the family nearly two years ago, but things just became official last month. During his spring game he heard his “new name” for the first time.
“Oh, it felt really good to hear my new full name over the loudspeakers,” Gregory-Schulman said. “Even coach (Matt) Wicks came up to me and said something to me. For them to say it was a blessing. I didn’t think the announcer was going to say it. I thought he was going to just keep it original and say Gregory. But they remembered and everyone knows I’m a Schulman now,” wrote the Tampa Tribune.
Since that spring game things have skyrocketed in terms of his recruitment. Showing the most interest is Florida International University. The 6-foot wide receiver says that he hears from the Golden Panthers often.
“They want me to come to camp,” Schulman said. “The coach says he wants to offer, but he needs to see me at camp.”
He hasn’t visited many schools, but that’s because he had very minimal interest until recently.
“Everything blew up after my spring game when I had three touchdowns,” Schulman said. He also camped at Florida State University last week where he says he impressed a number of coaches.
“I was very shocked when FIU first called me. I was kind of thinking ‘okay what is going on? Why do you want me?’ They told me they watched me and are impressed with me.”
It changes his plans for his senior season immensely. The two-sport athlete had planned on trying to play basketball at a small college and focus solely on his education. He constantly had hurdles to overcome. The doubters in his life had almost convinced him that he wasn’t good enough.
“A lot of people told me I wasn’t going to make it,” but Schulman says none of that matters now. “It changes my attitude a lot. I’m running routes on my own and working out on my own.”
It has also brought him to set lofty goals for his senior year.
“One thousand yards receiving,” he said. “That’s 100 yards per game.”
His best attributes are catching the football, running good routes and his overall quickness. “I don’t have see-ya-later speed, but I love the deep ball. I play basketball too so I can jump.”