For every football star, there's a family behind him.

Cullen Jenkins is playing in his first Super Bowl later today. As such, the 31-year-old defensive end should have been having the time of his life as he made his way through the media frenzy that was last week. But for those who knew him, the big fella seemed a bit off. Hard to blame him. Neither he, nor his brother, Kris, a nose tackle for the New York Jets, had heard from their father, Darome Jenkins, in over a month.

This was rare to say the least. Cullen and Kris are very tight with their dad. Darome had raised the two all by himself as a single parent during the 80s. The job which supported them? Evicting people from their homes on the rough and tumble streets of west Detroit. Until a harrowing experience led to a change.

Darome barely escaped with his life one day when trying to evict fiends from a crack house. He suddenly realized that his dangerous vocation wasn’t a good one for a dad with two toddler boys. So he moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he attended Eastern Michigan. The 27 year old man had two roommates at college. His sons. Until Eastern Michigan discovered what was going on and moved the threesome into family housing.

Darome worked hard to pay for the degree in education he sought, working three different part time jobs just to get by. But everything paid off in spades. Once he graduated, Darome got a job as a high school drama teacher and football coach. And his sons got the safer life and stability their dad had desperately wanted for them.

The rest, as the say, is history. Darome’s boys eventually earned college scholarships, Kris at Maryland and Cullen at Central Michigan. Unbelievably, both young men would go pro. And they had their father’s sacrifices and hard work to thank. Yet as of last week, neither of the Jenkins boys had heard from their dad since Darome had returned to his home in Hawaii in December.

This fact came to light during Media Day when Cullen told reporters that he was leaving a ticket for his dad at will call in spite of not having heard from him for so long. It turns out there was a moment Cullen could point to as impetus for the communication breakdown.

“It wasn’t an incident, but there was a discussion, and it wasn’t a bad discussion by any means,’’ Cullen said. “He [Darome] was talking a little bit about how he was feeling about certain things in the family, and maybe feeling a little left out and things like that.”

On Thursday, Hawaiian authorities read about the story and performed a welfare check on Darome, who, thankfully, is just fine. In fact, he contacted Cullen later that very night. Though it sounds as if there still may be some sore feelings, at least Cullen can approach tonight’s game with a clear head with the knowledge that his dad is okay.

His brother, Kris, had this to say about the matter in an email: “Our family has endured some very hard times, but we are strong and we will find a way to get through this as well.”

Given what they’ve gone through in the past? And given the wonderful example Darome has set for his boys with regard to getting through adversity? I’d say Kris is probably right.

Source: Comcast, Boston Globe

Image: stock.xchng

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