Bears wide receiver gives Super Bowl trip to young dad who helped his mom
Lamar Jackson, 24, of Auburn-Gresham, is going to the Super Bowl. His mother is too.
“I can’t believe it. I’m so excited,” said Jackson, who learned this past week he was getting the trip of a lifetime for free, when Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson called.
Jackson and his 47-year-old mother, Tatansha Spencer-Jackson, had been summoned to the Grand Crossing offices of The Dovetail Project by Sheldon Smith, founder of the 10-year-old nonprofit that’s been turning boys into men, then fathers, since March 2010.
Jackson is about to be a dad, his baby girl due Feb. 9. To prepare, the first-time father enrolled at Dovetail, a program that uses a 12-week curriculum crafted with input from experts at the University of Chicago, to provide at-risk young black males ages 17 to 24 with parenting, life and job-readiness skills, and tools to avoid the justice system.
Jackson graduated from the program in December. He was among 13 Dovetail students who received $1,000 each at Christmas, also from a member of the Bears, which last fall adopted the organization and recently included it in a commercial celebrating the Bears’ milestone 100th season. That Bear wished to remain anonymous.
But after Jackson turned around and gave half of that gift to his mother, who suffers from chronic ulcerative colitis, often misses work and was struggling with bills after the death of Jackson’s stepfather a year ago, it drew the additional largesse.
“He told Lamar he was so proud of him for giving part of his gift to his mother, and that because of that, he had another gift for Lamar and his mother,” said Smith, of Avalon Park, who was honored by CNN in 2016 as a finalist on the TV special “CNN Heroes,” annually recognizing individuals with remarkable humanitarian contributions to their communities.
On Monday, Robinson gave the mother and son two tickets to the game in Miami and will cover all expenses — flight, hotel, etc., along with a stipend for spending money.
“I was speechless. Oh my Lord, I can’t find the words to express my gratitude,” said the mother, who has four other grown children. “I’m ecstatic. I couldn’t stop crying. I’ve never even been to a football game in my life. It’ll be an experience for both of us.”
Smith’s program has racked up accolades over the years, a darling of those who believe young fathers must be part of the solution in addressing challenges plaguing single-parent households. Former President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama personally donated $15,000 to the organization last month to help Dovetail meet a $25,000 matching gift challenge from the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation.
The 13 students who got $1,000 each from the Bears had attended a practice at Halas Hall in October. Dovetail, which has served 500 young men to date, graduated its 20th class of 46 students on Dec. 22, at DuSable Museum, helping them secure jobs and their
GED.
Smith has walked the footsteps of many of the young men his organization serves, launching the program to break a cycle that had almost ensnared him as a youth. He grew up in Woodlawn, one of five children of his mother who had her first child at 14, her last at 21. His parents separated when he was in elementary school, his father in and out of his life.
He had been a good kid who stayed on track through sophomore year of high school, where he had even been a starting middle linebacker on the football team. But at age 16, after beginning to hang out with the wrong people, he was arrested for armed robbery. Because of his stellar record, the judge agreed it was an aberration.
He pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of aggravated robbery and after five months, got out of jail, went back and graduated high school with certification in carpentry and enrolled in community college. He had his daughter at age 19 and realized he didn’t know anything about parenting. His journey led him to want to help others like Jackson with similar paths.
“I’ve learned so much through the program. The biggest thing they taught me about fatherhood is that just being there is the most important,” said Jackson, who lives with his girlfriend and works full time as a security guard.
“With the baby coming, I hadn’t been able to pitch in and help my mother as much as I wanted, so I saw the $1,000 as an opportunity to help pick up that slack for her. There are still guys like me out here with values like that, but it makes me feel good to be recognized.”