The wall in his locker is filled with pictures of his 11-month-old son, Josiah, and when you get Jason Pierre-Paul talking about that child, he just doesn’t stop.
He’ll tell you how Josiah was born two months premature, and how he now weighs a whopping 35 pounds, so big that people don’t believe he’s only 11 months old. He’ll tell you, unprompted, how Josiah will get to pick his own sport when the time comes, and how he’s “pretty sure he’s going to be fine” as an athlete.
And then JPP will tell you something else: Fatherhood (and maybe a certain incident on July 4) has altered his purpose in the NFL. The Giants defensive end, once happy-go-lucky, is a role model now, a responsibility he’s now proud to shoulder.
“I’m a role model,” he said Monday. “What happened to me, a lot of kids, (they’re like), ‘Dang, what he gonna do now?”
VACCHIANO: JASON PIERRE-PAUL HAS MADE GIANT IMPACT
Pierre-Paul went on.
“I’m a father myself,” he said. “My son, he don’t know no better. He’s learning. He’s getting ready to talk, getting ready to walk. I know, I see. If something were to happen to him, I can tell him (things) . . . But when a role model tells you “It’s gonna be OK,’ it’s gonna be OK.”
This is part of why JPP is back on the football field for the Giants — and part of why he’s worked to be different and inspirational ever since that return. His Instagram page now overflows with uplifting quotes.
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Last week, Pierre-Paul spent time Facetiming with 11-year-old Seamus Bohannon, a youngster who had parts of two fingers amputated after a bicycle accident, and he’s spent increasing time reaching out to other children who can learn from his Fourth of July nightmare.
It’s not uncommon for NFL players to spend some of their down time involved in such outreach work, and Pierre-Paul attended his share of charity functions on Tuesday off-days before his accident. But he never understood them as he does now, he said.
“At first, I didn’t really see it,” he said. “But with my situation, that happened now, I see things differently. It’s a blessing for me to just reach out and touch the kids. It’s just like making a wish. I’m just a player telling them what’s going on in my life. I’m living proof.”
