ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips could have easily gone down a dark path in life after growing up without his biological parents.
"I was a kid who didn't want to be a failure I guess," Phillips said. "It was either this or something else that probably wouldn't have been good."
Phillips chooses to look at the positive things and people in his life rather than the difficult times he endured during his childhood. His father, George was in prison when his mother, Sherry died in a car accident when he was just two years old.
"I didn't get a chance to know her," he said. "My grandparents raised me and I consider them my mom and dad."
He lost them too.
His grandma, Irene had a stroke and his grandpa, Willie was well into his 70's and could not take care of Phillips on his own.
That's when many families stepped up to look after him. First it Kody and Sheller Kinder. Phillips moved in with them when he was 12-years-old.
"It really took a village to raise me."
Cindy Waggoner was also a part of that village.
"The biggest thing with her is she always treated me like I was her son from the first day I walked in the door. It was just the love she portrayed on me is just something I haven't felt before," Phillips said.
Along with her husband, Shane.
"He's a little different," Phillips said. "He goes with the flow. We're - actually I would say a lot alike in a weird way just because he has a different family history as well. He's hard to describe, I mean he's just Shane."
Shane and Cindy Waggoner legally adopted Phillips but it wasn't because he needed someone to take care of him.
"My best friend, my brother now Zach, his family now my family adopted me two years ago when I had my son Malik," he said. "I didn't have any grandparents or anything to look after him so I just really wanted him to have a good opportunity if anything happened to me."
"You know I just want him to have everything I didn't," Phillips said.
Because of that, Phillips discovered a hidden talent.
"I don't have any baby pictures of me with my mom and dad or anything like that so I just want to make sure that if anything did happen he has a bunch of stuff he can go through and see what we did together," Phillips said.
Malik inspired Phillips to document his childhood from taking naps, baths, trips to the zoo, the beach, and whatever else happens in between. He bought a Sony a7 III camera to capture Malik's moments big or small and along the way, found out he's a pretty darn good photographer.
"It wasn't supposed to be a passion actually but then I just really started liking it," Phillips said.
He even made an instagram account for his photos "@betternotblink."
Phillips also shares this passion with his teammates.
"It always surprises everybody just because they wouldn't expect it from me. I'm kind of closed off I'd say and that's just the way I can express myself," Phillips said.
"So when they see it they're kind of just like no way and I'm like just wait until you see the pictures," he said.
As if being a dad, NFL player and photographer didn't take up enough of his time, every offseason he picks up a new hobby. Last year it was bowling and he got so good he bowled a 299.
"I was supposed to do all types of stuff this summer to try to qualify to be a pro but I ended up picking up golf so now I'm really big into golf," Phillips explained.
That's because he's a very competitive person, if you haven't noticed, and his brother is a very good golfer so he wants to compete with him.
But right now, the focus is on football where he's coming off the best game of his career.
Phillips had three sacks against the Tennessee Titans while his career total was 6.5 coming into the game.
It's a contract year so Phillips' play is coming at the perfect time. He's trying to show the coaching staff why he should stick around and more importantly, to provide for his family.
All of these opportunities that would not be possible without the "village" that helped him get here and choosing to stay on the right path despite his difficult childhood.
"At the end of the day you have a choice and that's either let it break you down or you can rise about it," he said.