ChristieOhh: What was life like for you as a child?

Justin: Growing up for me life was a little vague. I spent a lot of time with my little brother and sister playing sports. There were some good times and there were some tough times. Some good times I remember was spending earlier childhood with my father before he went to prison. I was around 8 years old. It became very different after that happened. I stayed with my mom and little brother which were very tough times. At age 12, my mom had a mental break down. Before her breakdown I had transferred to a private school from public school. It was a good thing at that time because my mom went to hospital. Brad Blackburn steered me to private school to play ball. While at private school I was embrace by the Yow’s and shortly went to live with them. My grandmother and Aunt Anna Nash helped get everything on task and supported me. I really enjoyed that my school was very family based. Everybody knew everybody.

ChristieOhh: Give me your history with football?

Justin: I started playing football with my Uncle Troy. He came over to my house one day when I was sitting on the couch. He said you are going to play football, he didn’t give me an option. So my cousin Buck and I went and played football; I was about 4 years old. I’ve been playing every since now I’m 23. I played in the Toy Bowl and from there it was all upwards. I didn’t play in high school as a freshman. I played AAU Basketball for Birmingham Express. My sophomore year is when I started to focus on football. At that time we thought I was going to have to transfer schools but God had different plans. A friend by the name Kent Glover asked me to stay over and it’s almost like he knew my situation without me even telling him. From that day everything went up. The Glover’s took me in and raised me like I was one of there own. It was kind of like “Blindside” story. The whole family treated me as if I was family and I really appreciated them. Living with The Glover’s was a big help for my grandmother. She didn’t live close to the school and living with them gave me an opportunity.

My football career took a peek. I was All State Quarterback, second in the State for passing. I was on scout.com and rival.com, I went to two combines for kids. As a junior, I was All State as an athlete; same my senior year. I had several offers to play college football. I made my decision to go to to Samford University. I felt like that’s where God was leading me to go. I wanted to go close to home and go to Law school.

I was a freshman coming in for ball. Everyone had such high expections; I had high expectations for myself. I ended up getting hurt the second game of season and tore my UCL against Georgia Tech. I took a medical red shirt to do therapy until it healed. I got better and thought everything was fine. It was December of 2007; when my life changed, I tore my ACL. I immediately had ACL surgery. My surgery went well and I began to do therapy again. That April, I tore my ACL again same knee, had another surgery. I was dealing with a lot at this point. It was very upsetting.

ChristieOhh: Did your injuries make you feel like playing football wasn’t an option?

Justin: After the first surgery, I felt like I’ve seen plenty of people comeback after the second one it kind of hit me. I started to question if the game was for me. I knew if football wasn’t for me I needed to keep my grades up for Law School. Because of all the surgeries and dropping hours I was falling short and transferred to Junior College. I was down and out with the second surgery. I was a high recruit, I went stanford and have two surgeries at 19; it was just unexpected. I knew at that point I needed to make a decision. I just took classes and got my grades up. In June of 2009, right before the season started I was going to be done with football. I came home to be with family. During this whole time I realized that I hadn’t been to church. I’ve always been involved at church from singing in the choir to bible study. But since my freshman year up until the time I went home I had only been to church maybe once or twice. I started to feel like my injuries was God’s way of getting my attention. If not for him I wouldn’t had football. I think he had to break me down.

ChristieOhh: What made you give football another chance?

Justin: I was sitting in the house and my old high school coach heard I was home and came over. He looked me dead in my eyes and asked, “What are you doing? Are you going to piss away your dreams?” I had been praying about this and he came from no where. He told me, “You have to much talent and ability and a testimony to tell.”

Also, a very good friend Josh Russell was always there for me. He was a very good player in high school and always told me that our high school team would be my team one day. I gave him a call and talked to him for a while about my situation. I told him I need a breakthrough. He came home that weekend and said that we needed to go to church. The family that took me in was at church that Sunday. I hadn’t talked to them in a year, I felt like I had let them down. It seemed like at that moment everything I needed and the people I needed to be with was at church. That whole sermon that day was about not giving up on your calling. I knew that my grandmother was somewhere praying for me. I gave everything back to God and since then my career has been on the go.

Between my old coach, friend and church they had me motivated and sparked my drive for the game again. From there, I drove 17 hours to work out at Pittsburgh for CFL tryouts. I was just hungry for it. I knew I had to take a different road to get my career going then most professional players but I wasn’t giving up. I started playing Semi-Pro for Central Alabama Devils Dawgs as Quarterback. I got offensive MVP that year. Last season I got offensive MVP again.

ChristieOhh: What are you currently doing?

Justin: I signed with a professional indoor team, The Knoxville Nighthawks. I will be at the NFL Regional combine in Tampa on Feb. 18. It’s a huge accomplishment for me because I have no film from college or anything because I was hurt. I am working my way up, taking a different route but it’s working for me. I have to do a lot on my own. I’m currently training with Jeff Green at Icon Performance for the combine. I found out that I got my final confirmation for the combine on Dec. 31 which is also my grandmother’s birthday.

ChristieOhh: What are you hoping for to the most?

Justin: To be on a NFL team; to get on a roster. I made a promise back to my father when I was 7; to never quit, never give up and be there for your little brother, to stick with it no matter what. My dad had a 15 year sentence, he’s scheduled to be released this year. He will see me play football and I would love for it to be on an NFL team. My dad has always supported me, even though he wasn’t physically here.

At first when I told people that I was going to pursue my football career, they looked at me like I was crazy. But I know that if I put God first, all things are possible. I just want to be a testimony to all the kids that lose hope due to an injury or broking family or that don’t have the same resources as other kids. If you believe in yourself and work hard there’s nothing you can’t do.

My grandmother is a warrior to me and a true fighter! My cousin Latonya Nash is very supportive and always has encouraging words.  My cousin Buck has always been there for me like a brother through the tough times and the good times. I’m blessed to have the support of 4thandlong. Pilar and Mark are there for me. Pilar has picked up a lot of slack since my grandmother hasn’t been able to get around as much. They are very positive and influential in my life. God has his hands over the whole organization and it’s going to be a big year for everyone.

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