At 16 games, the Shabazz High School football team has one of New Jersey’s longest winning streaks.

Players say they are drawing inspiration this season from one of their teammates who as the victim of a shooting and had to learn to walk again.

Jaheem Burks was shot six times in the legs in a random January shooting in Newark. He says that he was out getting pizza when he was shot.

"It went through my legs. Through my thigh, my inner thigh...down here [in the calf,]” he says.

Burks was out of the hospital in 2 ½ weeks, and then went to rehab to relearn how to walk. He says that he was ready to go by the time football training camp returned.

His coach says that he was skeptical and wanted to make Burks a manager for the team.

“He said, ‘What are you talking about coach? I’m playing,’” Shabazz Coach Darnell Grant says “He looked at me serious. Dead serious, stone-cold grill…he said, ‘I’ll be back.’”

Burks has played in every game for Shabazz this season and he is the backup quarterback. He also plays receiver and defense.

"How can anyone make an excuse? We've got a guy who's back really within seven months. He's an example. He's our inspirational leader and he's a guy that we lean on,” Grant says.

Burks is a nominee for the Heart of a Giant award, which recognizes student athletes in the tri-state area for their work ethic and passion for football.