Few NFL Players Have A Fathers Day Backstory Like That Of Running Back Jonah Coleman

Fathers Day always produces some interesting stories based on teh journeys of NFL players, but few are as fascinating as that of Denver Broncos running back Jonah Coleman, whose father was once a gang member of the notorious Bloods in South Stockton and a self-described “young menace to society,” according to a piece written by Luca Evans of the Denver Post.  

Evans also described a childhood incident when he was playing football with the East Stockton Yellowjackets and his father, Jamon, was approached by members of the Crips and Jamon had to offer an explanation. 

“My son’s right here,” Jamon recalled telling them. “He’s playing football. I’m trying to teach him something different.”

That explanation was literally a game-changer, according to Evans. Jonah grew up as the pride of East Stockton, Evans explained, and Jamon grew up cheering for his son alongside men who once would have wanted him dead. 

Jamon also believes that Jonah likely saved his life because his son’s rise in football allowed him to Jamon to pull away from his gang ties. In return, Jamon dedicated much of his left to protecting his son and the give that saved him. 

“Stockton is tough, man,” Jonah said during minicamp when he was asked about all this. “It’s so easy to get wrapped up in whatever the hell is going on around you.

“A lot of people set this ceiling, like, right here,” he gestures, raising his hand to chest level, “instead of trying to shoot past the stars. You know what I mean? And for me, I wanted to shoot past the stars.”

Jonah eventually developed the work ethic and high standards that gave him the chance to utilize his talent to get to the NFL, and Broncos GM George Paton mentioned the endorsemant Coleman got from Jedd Fisch, his college coach at Washington. 

“He’s an alpha,” Paton told The Post on Jonah, after the draft. “He’s a tone-setter. He’s a leader. Jedd says that he’s one of the best players he’s ever coached.”

Jonah understandably has no desire to return to Stockton at this point, but he actually called Jamon after the the draft and asked his father if it would alleviate stress if Jonah got him out of Stockton. But Jamon told his son that he didn’t owe him anything, according to Evans. 

“I’m not one of those parents that’s like, ‘Oh, my son’s in the NFL, so now he owes me a house. He owes me a car,'” Jamon said. “No, I’ll drive my same car and I’ll live in my same house, if I have to. My goal and my gift was to see him make it.

“If I walk outside and I drop dead on my way to heaven, or wherever I’m going, I can say, ‘Yeah, my son made it.’”