By Mallory Mattingly
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones shared a humble, heartfelt message to his team on Sunday after he earned the game ball in a huge win over the Minnesota Vikings.
“Real quick, I just want to say this, man. I’ve been through a lot this year, but earlier this week, I told a couple of guys this, man. I found myself feeling stuck, bro. And I found myself feeling like I was missing something. And what I was missing was God, man. I got back on my knees. I started back praying, bro. And just look at what we got, man,” Jones shared in the locker room.
“So I say that to say, it’s bigger than this interception. It’s bigger than that, bro. I got my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, back, and I’m with my boy,” he added.
Jones has had a Pro Bowl season thus far, and it comes after he lost his father to cancer right before the season began.
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“It’s been tough,” the athlete shared. “The release that I get is being around these guys and playing football.”
Head coach Mike Macdonald spoke to the media of Jones’ perseverance through adversity.
“The guy has been through a lot,” Macdonald began. “…That’s really the reason you have a team, is that you can be there for your brother when they need you. I know we’re in a business and there’s transactions and stuff, but at the end of the day, these are the relationships you’re going to have for a long time hopefully, and it’s really great to see that the rest of the guys are there to support him.”
“And he’s playing great football…He’s battled through some health things throughout the year as well. Some of the plays he’s making in the run game, too, is just really tremendous, really great plays that allows us to really call some defenses that you normally wouldn’t call in those situations,” the head coach added.
On Sunday, Jones “intercepted an ill-advised pass by rookie Max Brosmer on fourth-and-1, returning it for an 85-yard pick-six to help give Seattle a 13-0 lead at halftime,” NBC Sports reported.
“I saw DeMarcus holding him, getting ready to bring him to the ground,” Jones told the media after the game, “and when you catch these interceptions, everything kind of slows down. So I’m thinking, ‘There’s no way he’s about to throw this.’ He let it go and then I catch it, and I’m like, ‘There’s nobody in front of me.'”
It wasn’t the win that mattered the most to Jones; it was the fact that he rededicated his life to Jesus Christ that helped him find his joy again.
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