"I met someone in the bathroom I want to introduce you to," he says at lunch before bringing over a fan and introducing him to us all as if we were the ones to meet. He then charms him with with an NFL story before taking picture with him. "You guys don't have one of these," he says good-naturedly as he shows off one of his two Super Bowl rings to an Eagles fan client. It's one of those laughs that you can't help but laugh along with. His imposing size is balanced out by his engaging smile and a laugh that is equal parts giggle and high-pitched cackle. It's a symbol of changing one state from darkness to light."Īs we visit with various clients, it's easy to see why he has found success in sales and marketing. "And I use the red socks as a symbol, as the power to change my condition. "Abraham Lincoln said we have the power to change our condition," says Dexter. Now, nine years sober, those socks remind him of his journey. Twenty-four years of drug addiction, 38 visits to various rehab facilities, homelessness, four arrests and years of jail time defined him for so long. To the former NFL star, the red socks are a symbol of how far he has come. It's not that red is his favorite color, or even that they match the rest of his wardrobe. Sometimes they have a pattern, but mostly they are solid red, dozens of pairs of them lining his sock drawer like a monochromatic army of cotton footwear. Manley also wears red socks every day of his life. "I always wear a sweater," he says, wiping the sweat off of his brow. Manley is wearing khaki pants, a button-down shirt, boots and a sweater, a curious outfit considering the day's 80-degree temperature. After surgeries to remove a quarter-sized cyst in his brain, his short-term memory isn't the greatest. It's a question he'll ask multiple times throughout the day, even after it's determined that he left his wallet in his own car. "Where's my wallet?" he asks, after we leave the office. As the new director of marketing for Rockville, Md.,-based CE Construction Services, he'll be paying visits to both potential and current clients, and I'm along for the ride. It's a warm spring day and Dexter Manley bounds out of the office and jumps into his boss's truck like a kid heading to the playground.