By Amanda Scurlock for The LA Sentinel
Originally published Oct. 8, 2026
Justin Auston was a multi-sport athlete during his time at Bishop Montgomery High School. While he competed in basketball and track and field, Auston believed he could play football on the college level.
“I’ve always loved football because I feel like in basketball, I was a physical player,” Auston said. “I feel like football is the one sport where you can leave it all out there, I feel like I’m the most me when I’m on the field.”
Auston then attended Long Beach City College to develop his football career. After two seasons, he competed in 16 games. As a leader, Auston used his mannerisms to show his teammates what to do.
“I’m usually super quiet, I just stay to the back and do my part,” Auston said. “But this season, toward the end of the season, I tried to take more of a vocal part. If I wasn’t going to be loud about it, I’ll step up and do it in front of and show you.”
Learning about how to play football and how to accept losses was challenging to Auston. He also struggled to accept the amount of playing time he was offered.
“Those were all things that showed me to get certain things, you got put in a certain amount, I wasn’t doing enough,” Auston said. “That was a good thing to know.”
Auston knows that being an athlete is secondary to being a student. He is a communications major.
“My counselor, we were talking. She said that it has a wide ranges of what I could get into after college,” Auston said. “I feel like that puts me in a pretty good position to have an open mind of what I want to do.”
The discipline he learned in football translates to schoolwork, according to Auston.
“In football, you can’t wake up and learn plays,” Auston said. “In school, you can’t just wake up and know the material, You have to study to prepare.”
Outside of academics and athletics, Auston volunteers to work with youth at his church.
“I did volunteer work at the nursery,” Auston said. “I was watching them in there during service with my twin sister.”