MARRERO, La. — A defensive end from Marrero is hoping to hear his name called in the NFL draft this week.
He says it was at his neighborhood playground in Jefferson Parish where his passion for football was groomed.
Now an NFL hopeful looks back at memories from the past, while he awaits his future plans.
Jacoby Windmon has a dream. His former John Ehret high school football coach, Brandon Jordan, now at Ohio State, is helping him get there.
“I believe it's time to, you know, go to the next level, and do what I do best, live my dream out, because I'm very passionate about this sport. I love football. It teaches the lesson of life so,” said Jacoby Windmon, 22.
He played college ball for UNLV and then Michigan State where he got a degree in human development and family studies.
“Because I like to give back, you know, to the youth, whether that's with my community, or, you know my, siblings. They are the future, because it's easy to fall victim to, you know, any violence, or anything negative, especially in New Orleans. I used sports as the escape for me, you know, to get away from a lot of things, just growing up in poverty,” he said.
“I do appreciate y'all man for real,” Windom tells his childhood coaches.
“Hey look, that's what we here for man. That's what we do, all day, always man,” reply Coaches Ryan Sturgis and Terrance Anderson.
Jacoby has wisdom far beyond his 22 years. In part, he credits men like Ryan Sturgis and Terrance Anderson, the coaches who nurtured his passion, and confidence when he started as a little boy at the Johnny Jacobs Playground in Marrero.
“It was always about how can this benefit you when you are older, or how can you become a better person on and off the field,” Windmon said about what his coaches taught him.
“My most important, I used to tell him always, what I used to tell you, play big boy football. Yeah, play like a man, and he was always the smartest player I always had. I always coached him the hardest out of everybody,” remembers Coach Terrance Anderson of Johnny Jacobs Playground.
For all these many years, these coaches saved that little boy's jersey, never letting anyone else where it. They always saw something special in Jacoby. They even changed him from number one to number nine, calling him ‘Baby Brees’ saying he had full command in the huddle and knew how to read a defense and adjust on the fly.
“We actually groomed him to play quarterback, because he was the smartest kid,” said Coach Ryan Sturgis of Johnny Jacobs Playground. “One particular game we was in, and we on the sidelines, and we call one play, but he checked out of it and ran a play, and end up going 60 yards, and I was like and he was like, ‘Man I told you. I told you!’”
But Jacoby knows there are many yards to travel, still so much to learn from the real ‘big boys,’ when trying to play with the elites.
“I just hope I get the opportunity, you know, all glory to God for putting me in this position, you know, being a part of the one percent,” said Windmon.
When asked if he is a leader in the locker room, he replied, “Yes ma'am, natural leader.”
When asked what he tells his teammates in the locker room, he answered, “Just be yourself, you know, don't try to be something you're not, and we all we have, and we all we need, like you can't do nothing in life on your own.”
And now, for the next few days, he will be close to his phone at home in Marrero.
“I wouldn't say nervous. I'm more anxious than anything. I'm ready to see what the future holds for me because I know it's something great, and I can't wait to unfold it,” Windmon said.
The draft starts Thursday night at 7:00 and goes through Saturday. If Jacoby becomes an undrafted free agent, he can be signed by any team.
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