Kingsley Jonathan is one of the first to take the field on a hot, sticky day at Bills Training Camp.

“No matter how good they say it was, no rep is ever perfect to me. It’s the little things that I can always get better at," Jonathan said.

Practice had ended, but the defensive end continued to work.

“Being able to have an opportunity like this doesn’t come a lot. Taking advantage of that, with them in the back of my head," Jonathan said.

The “them” he’s taking about are his parents, who still live in Nigeria, where Kingsley is from.

“Growing up, I never thought I could get to this stage. Growing up, nobody ever made it this far where I’m from," Jonathan said.

His journey to Bills Training Camp has been anything but easy.

“I came here to play basketball, believe it or not. Thought I was going to make it to the NBA," Jonathan said.

In his mid-teens, the gifted athlete immigrated to the U.S., where his parents thought he would have more of a chance to excel. What they didn’t know was their son would be hosted by a couple that was exploiting them and several other families of foreign students for money.

“I look at everything that happened as a learning opportunity, a growing opportunity. Learned about myself and everything that went down," Jonathan said.

Before he was taken out of the situation by new legal guardians, he was put to work, mowing fields, cleaning toilets, washing dirty dishes.

“I’m resilient. Whatever situation I found myself in, I found the positive in it," Jonathan said.

One positive of being involved in a human trafficking ring was he got into football, and was good at it. It didn’t take long for him to be noticed by Division I schools like Syracuse.

“Him coming to Syracuse was so great for Syracuse, but was also so great for him. It changed our lives, and it changed his life," coach Dino Babers said.

He shined on and off the field the during his five years in Orange, establishing himself as one of the best pass rushers, while being named to the ACC Honor Roll three times.

“Kingsley, to me, is going to be one of those guys, he’s going to be the mayor, he’s going to be a head coach, he’s going to be the athletic director, he’s going to be the chancellor, he’s going to be the governor. He’s going to be one of those guys," Babers said.

After all of the hits he’s taken in life, it’s finally his turn to hit back.

“Blessed to be here. Just looking forward to keep working, and when I get an opportunity, make the most of it. Having this opportunity to one day go back home and be a difference and set an example and help people get to where I am is big," Jonathan said.