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Uncle Luke to Coach Miami High School Football Team

Posted Nov 29th 2010 12:00PM by Theo Bark
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Luke Theo Wargo, WireImage

Former 2 Live Crew rapper Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell has been announced as the new assistant football coach for Miami Central High School. The 49-year-old "Me So Horny" rapper has shed his raunchy image, and was given permission by the Miami-Dade school system to coach the team, after receiving letters of support from community leaders, school officials and parents.

"I'm happy and proud of what we accomplished but that part of my life is over," Luke Campbell told the Bellingham Herald. "The entertainer -- I left him on stage."

The career Luke alleges to have left behind was one fraught with censorship suits and legal battles over songs like 'Pop that P----,' and 'Throw the D---.' In the past decade, Luke jumped into the adult film industry, releasing films like his 2007 DVD 'Luke's Bachelor Party,' and still maintains a website with adult entertainment links, but Central head coach Telly Lockette doesn't consider his past to be an issue when it comes to coaching football.

"I thought they [2 Live Crew] were funny. It was part of the times," Lockette said. "Sex sells. That's the way of the world. The kids know who Lil Wayne is, but they don't know who Mark Twain is. They relate to Luther very well. We joke with him about his past, but, you know, everybody deserves a chance to grow up. He's like a father figure to these boys. He understands the streets and how they're trying to find their way."

While Luke may have left his bad boy image behind, he still has a very questionable history with Miami football, having admitted to offering "bounties" to University of Miami players for sacks and touchdowns back in the '80's and early 90's, and attempting to blackmail the team in effort to promote his favorite quarterback. To his credit, Luke has been coaching kids in his Liberty City neighborhood's Optimist league, which he founded.

"I don't tolerate cursing or the N-word," Luke explained. "I tell them, 'Don't ever disrespect a girl because that makes you less than a man.' And 'Pick the girl who is responsible, not the one with Fs on her report card. Easy to get in, hard to get out. I've lived that life' ... I want to help kids be more compassionate, respectful, responsible. I tell them stories of what I did and what I should not have done."

C.J. Gaines, an 18-year-old Miami Central wide receiver, has been coached by Luke since he was 10. "He opens his house up whenever we need a break from the streets for a night or two, and he'll feed us, help us with homework," Gaines said. "He says, 'Make your mother proud. Think about your future.'"

While he isn't much of a fan of his coach's music, it's clear that his influence has made a hugely positive impact on his life. "I don't see him as a rapper," Gaines told the Miami Herald. "I see him as a father."