 For our fans who may not know who you are. What kind of player can they expect on game day? Somebody fearless. He wants to work. Somebody wants to get W's. We want Super Bowls. If you're not getting Super Bowls, then what are you doing? There's so many things going on that day We were just concerned that Drake was, you know, good. He was happy, fed, drinking water. Everything was good. We had a little chirp, so it might be this, might be that. We're sitting there and we kind of had an idea, but you know anything is possible on where he was supposed to be picked. Right around pick number five, I think that was a giant, if I'm not mistaken, is where things started to get very, very real. Because you can hear, in the draft room, it's a little bit faster than television, so you can see who's being called and you can see who the families that are getting up are starting to celebrate. All of us had been so nervous the prior days, even leading up to it. But when the Falcons were on the clock, we're like, okay, okay, my husband and I are holding hands. We're like, okay. And we're like, Drake, is your phone on? Are you sure your phone's on? So we're just waiting for it to happen, waiting for it to happen and then, okay, a lot of Falcons are on the clock and everything is just silent. It was pins and needles. It was just quiet and we hadn't heard any claps since we were like, okay, is it going to happen? Is it not? Our stomachs are in knots. We're all sitting there really silent and we hear just, it was, you could hear a pin drop. And it seemed like it's 15, 20 minutes, but it's not, but it seems like it's 15 or 20 minutes and you don't hear any of the family celebrating, you don't hear anybody else getting a phone call so you're like, okay, maybe they're going to go a different direction, maybe they're not going to go this direction. And then it was so quiet that you could hear not only the ring but the buzzing of his phone. And we hear his phone in his lap to start vibrating. With the eighth pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons select. From early, early on, I mean, he walked really early at nine months old and so it was like movement constantly, but anything with a ball, he was just drawn to. I got to be spoiled with him. My whole childhood, he was just so lively. He loves to have fun. He can dance so good. He's a good dancer. Believe it or not, it was probably very, very early. Before even Pop Warner, when he was playing flag football, so I would probably say seven, six. But he just had something about him that just turned on when he was on the field or on the court and he was very passionate. His first grade teacher in our parent teacher conference told us she never had a kid yet that knew what they were passionate about and he knew what he was passionate about, football and basketball. Ever since I could remember, once I knew that that could be a job of yours and you didn't have to work a nine to five, it was straight line all the way to there the whole time. I hesitated to take it so far because I'm his dad, right? So of course my opinion is going to be biased. But he's showing these star qualities from a very young age and so we kind of kept it to ourselves. We're like, okay, we know, but we're not going to go around town telling everybody but he's the number one everything. We're going to let other people figure it out for themselves and they did. He's continuing to show me these things physically as his physical attributes as a basketball player and as a football player against other kids and I can't keep denying that what I'm seeing is pretty fantastic, right? Because I've seen a lot of children athletes. I was an athlete myself and I often call it physical genius. Like you see someone who's able to play the piano a certain way or someone who's able to play the violin a certain way. What he's able to tell his mind and how his body receives it and responds is freaking amazing. There was a certain point where he was bigger than most of the other boys his age even though he was younger and they would say he shouldn't be on the field, he shouldn't be on the field. We used to have to have him kind of tone it down because he would use all his fouls when he was younger in basketball and some of the other parents like, you know, they're just watching their kid get crushed and you're like, you're like, Drake, you can't do that. Once he's in between the white lines, anyone who stepped into these lines should be prepared for whatever's coming and that's just how he plays every down. It was an eye-opening moment for me as well. But once he's off the field all man, he's a prankster, he's a jokester, he loves to have fun. I mean, he's a different kid on and off the field. People are like, he's a monster on the field and he's just such a cuddly bear with us though. Sorry, Drake. We all are very close, the four of us, and he wants to see everybody win. You know, he's very, very competitive but all of us are that way where it's like we want to see everybody win and there's enough space for everybody but I would say, you know, he has a kind heart. He's a simple guy, you know, he's simple but once you get to know him, you'll see what a great person he is. He loves people, he's so nice, you know. Just trying to be the best I could possibly be and also be the best man I could be. I grew up with just a sister and she showed me the ways as well, you know, in the house by ourselves and her taking care of me. I have a million and one stories with Drake. I get to sit down and talk about Drake for hours but I want people to know that he's actually super insightful and really empathetic to other people. Just since we were little things, we just spent hours just like quality time together. All of our family vacations, it was just us two so we really became best friends like over time even though it's my little brother. Whether it was road trip to Vegas when I was younger or going somewhere else and just having our own time together, you know or even if it's just sitting in the living room and just watching TV while my mom cooks. Things like those I always cherish and I think that's what makes us a close family. He gives me goosebumps all the time. I opened up about it the other day in the interview. This is a crazy moment. They asked some of us to say a few kind words for you. You know, I was trying to hold it in all day especially too, I had my granny there with me. She started tearing up and that hurt and I was trying to hold it in but when they sat me down, they put the headphones on me and they told me, you know, we got a video for you and my mom and dad popped up. Yeah, it was hard to fight those ones. There was a lot of moments in my journey where maybe I wasn't super sure where I was going my next step but I was really concerned about him and his next step and where he was going and making sure that he was doing everything right putting his head down, making the right decisions not getting in no trouble, not getting in no anything learn from others mistakes. I was just trying my best to provide a good example for him and to see him take that information, take the advice, really soak it in, absorb it and run with it to this level. It just gives us goosebumps. Long, grueling days, long, grueling nights of just working. I wouldn't be here without them. I wouldn't be in the position I am without them. I mean, it just means the world to me. Yeah, sir. How you doing, man? Good, how are you? You want to be a Falcon? This is a place that I wanted to be especially after meeting the whole coaching staff from GM down everybody. Just the people surrounded by here I feel like we're moving in the right direction and there's the right fit for me and when I saw the GA on there where the location was you probably didn't see it on the TV but inside I was screaming and I was so happy and I was just honestly ready to get the work right away. Yeah, so it was a special moment. We just all just started crying. I mean, it was like everything that he had worked for everything that he had, you know, dreamed of was in that moment. When he was talking on the phone to the Falcons, I could see he was looking up and is trying not to get so emotional because it meant everything to him. I'm so immensely proud of him. It's just crazy to see because when I hug him or I look at him, for me as an older sister I still see the little boy running around the house, you know what I'm saying? Putting holes in the walls, that's what I see. So it's just so monumental, honestly. It was a monumental moment in our whole family. We had family all across the country and everybody was watching. We had a huge support network, so it was beautiful. You see everyone texting and calling, watching him on TV. It really takes a village. It was just like a dream come true. I mean, to see him accomplish something that he's worked so hard for, you know, he's worked so hard. It's been an amazing, amazing feeling and I don't know if I'll ever have the words to explain it because I know the sacrifices that he put forward to obtain it. We're the proudest parents ever, if that's even a thing because I know that every parent is proud of their child. It's hard to say in words, but if you had to dream about a son and I say this about our daughter too, it would be each of them. He's so kind and so humble, so smart. I mean, to see your child fulfill their dream is just, I don't know, there's no words. I think he's going to be one of the greatest men that I've ever met. I think he's going to be one of the greatest men that I've ever met. My job and my wife's job is to make our children better than we ever were and I think we've accomplished that with both of them. He's a respectful young man. He's honest, he's loyal, he's compassionate, but he's passionate about the things that he's passionate about, right? So I'm just, I'm living the dream. I'm in awe and I'm like, like you said, I'm in the land. I mean, I'm going to come down here, I'm going to eat well, I'm going to watch good games. I just don't know what to say. For our fans who may not know who you are, what kind of players do they expect out of you? Somebody fearless. Somebody who wants to work, somebody who wants to get Ws. Going hard every single play, catching the ball, whether I'm down, backed up at the 20, I'm going to go score every play. And I'm just going to try to be who I am as a person and if people follow, then that's great. And if I follow them, if they're doing better than me, then by all means, I'm here to learn and I'm here to be the best I possibly could be for this team.