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Our guest today, George Jones, is on a mission to help young men become better fathers. Based on his belief that The best present you give your children is to be present, George has created a full curriculum of digital and experiential courses to make a dent in the Universe. He is also writing a book on fatherhood titled, “The Present Dad”.
George Jones is a retired NFL Player and Devoted Husband and Father. Jones had a stellar college career at San Diego State, where he broke many of Marshall Faulk’s rushing records. George made his NFL debut during the 1997 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, serving as a halfback for most of the season. The following season, he was released by the Steelers and moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars before finishing his career with the expansion Cleveland Browns in 1999.
Key takeaways:
- GJ was born on January 23, 2007. I can remember him grabbing my finger and I whispered in his ear, “I will always be here for you, GJ. No matter what it takes, through good and bad, I will always be here for you.” That day, when my oldest son who bears my name was born, that’s the day I became a man. (13:12)
- Scoring a touchdown in the NFL, rushing 400 yards, and being drafted, knowing a bunch of famous people, that’s cool. That is all fine and good. But the greatest gift that the good Lord has ever given me is to be a father. The talent to play football is secondary to this. So for me, I love football, and I enjoyed it, but it can never match being a father. (16:15)
- I can remember it like it was yesterday. The two nurses were whispering under their breath about Max. So I asked the nurse, and they said, “We don’t want to alarm you but we think your son has Down syndrome”. So I googled Down Syndrome and I almost passed out. I knew right then and there, my life as a father has changed forever. (19:07)
- The first three years of Max’s life, I probably cried 10 times a day. I had to pick myself up and say, “You know what, George, you got to stop feeling bad for yourself. You are his father, you got to do right by him”. From that point on, I had to do right by him, and I had to fight for him. Now, 13 years later, I couldn’t imagine life without Max, because Max has given me something that I don’t think I would have had he not been born, which is empathy. They always say the good Lord doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle. So me being a former professional football player, I wasn’t going to quit. I was going to stand up and fight and do right by Max. (21:48)
For more on George’s insight on being a present dad visit his website: https://thepresentdad.com/