Pittsburgh Commit Colin Urrea Turns His High School Speech Struggles Into Purpose

The Community School of Naples offensive lineman is turning his experience with Childhood Apraxia of Speech into a fundraising effort to support children facing similar challenges

Pittsburgh commit Colin Urrea says a prayer before kickoff | Kerry Diloreto

I first met Colin Urrea at the Miami Rivals camp in February. Having known his name and recruiting profile, I never expected him to be so humble and down to earth. I could immediately tell there was a lot more to him than just being a great up and coming high school football player. He has a bigger purpose.

A Challege Long Before Football

Long before he became a top offensive line prospect and Pitt commit, he was a little kid who struggled to speak. Around the age of two, he was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech, which is a rare neurological motor speech disorder that makes it difficult for the brain to plan the movements needed for clear speech.

He always knew what he wanted to say, he just couldn’t get it out.

“My peers and even some adults couldn’t understand me," said Urrea. "I felt disconnected and isolated. I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings, but I couldn’t.”

Finding Purpose Through Football

Now a rising senior at Community School of Naples, he’s using that part of his life to help others. This fall, he’s launching Pancakes for Apraxia, a fundraising campaign that will benefit Apraxia Kids.

In football, a pancake is when a blocker puts a defender flat on the ground, like a pancake. Supporters can pledge money to be donated for every pancake block Urrea and his teammates record, and all donations will go directly towards the cause.

Pancakes for Apraxia started with a school community service requirement, but he really wanted it to mean more than just fulfilling a requirement.

“I didn’t just want to check a box,” he said. “I really wanted to do something personally meaningful for me.”

He knew he wanted to give back to the kids and families who are battling the same battle he once had. The missing piece was how. That’s when he heard KC Concepcion speak openly about growing up with a stutter during the NFL Combine process.

“He grew up with a stutter and openly spoke about and embraced his speech impediment,” Urrea said of Concepcion. “I would never put myself in his big shoes, but I recognize the strength and courage that took.

“Since I am an offensive lineman and I really wanted to include my teammates, the idea of Pancakes for Apraxia was born.”

Built Through Repetition

He doesn’t talk about apraxia like it’s something he just overcame and left behind, instead he says it helped shape the player and person he is now.

“Apraxia made me a great offensive lineman,” he said.

While that correlation may sound interesting at first, he explains it simply.

“For a decade plus, since I was 2 years old, I spent every waking moment working on my speech when I wasn’t in school, eating, sleeping or playing sports” he told me.

He believes that grinder’s mentality carried over into football. Urrera developed a strong work ethic at a young age, and it translated to his game. The hours that he spent working on speech grew into the same kind of mentality he now brings to technique, film study, workouts and development.

“I am someone that is built, not born, because of apraxia.”

Using Success to Create Hope

That mindset and work ethic has helped him become an honor roll student and a Power 4 commit. Even with all of his personal success he has chosen to use his platform to focus attention and to push hope.

“I want them to have hope,” he said of children with apraxia. “I know there are a lot of kids and parents out there with fear about the future.”

He's never forgotten what it feels like to be misunderstood. He also knows how hard it can be for parents to stay encouraged when progress can move very slowly.

“I know that the outside world often doesn’t appreciate how bright you are if you cannot speak out loud your thoughts, ideas, and emotions,” he said.

“I want those kids with speech apraxia to have access to speech therapy like I did. I want those kids to fight.”

He often compares going through therapy to football, because you have to show up every day and build reps, put in the work, and as some would say, trust the process.

“I want them to find the strength inside to grind at therapy like I would hit a blocking sled.”

Pittsburgh Commit Colin Urrea and family during a home visit with coach Jay Jay Laster | Alex Urrea

More Than Pancake Blocks

For Urrea, the campaign is about visibility as much as fundraising. He went through it and kept climbing and that sentiment is what Pancakes for Apraxia is all about.

“Obstacles make you who you are,” he said. “They definitely do not define your ceiling unless you let them.”

He hopes this is just the start, and that the campaign grows beyond this season. He wants more people to get involved to continue bringing attention to speech apraxia and potentially help families facing other speech challenges down the road too.

When I asked him years from now, what he hoped the initiative would look like, he said “I hope it’s still going bigger and better,” he said. “I hope many others will collaborate and get involved.”

Pancake blocks are the pinnacle for offensive linemen, but for Urrea and his teammates this fall, they will carry a little more weight.