DeMarcus Ware's journey from small-college star to Hall of Famer took a fateful turn in the early 2000s, when he made a life-altering decision with a knife in his hand.

Choking with emotion as he recalled the incident Saturday in his speech at Tom Benson Stadium, the former Cowboys and Broncos star said he was assaulted by a gun-wielding man in a parking lot during a trip home while attending Troy University. That moment, which he'd never shared publicly, changed his life.

"Without warning, I was knocked across the head with a gun," Ware told the crowd. "A knife dropped to the ground and I picked it up. And when I looked up, all I could see was the potential shooter's eyes and a gun barrel pressed against my head. All I heard was my family say, 'Don't kill him.'