When I was growing up, we would always go to my aunt's house or my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving and just spend time with family. Every family would have their own routine. They'd come and stop by and spend some time and then move on to the next house they were going to. It wasn't like a house full of people, but there were people stopping by here and there. Most of the time, my family — my mom, my brother, my sister — would spent the time at my aunt's, so we were always there to see everybody who came through.
I'm one of the youngest cousins in my family, and everybody would spend time there seeing each other and having a good time. I grew up around a lot of family. Most of my family lives basically on the same street in the same area. We'd see each other every day, so it was a holiday every day back home.
We didn't really do turkey too much for the meal. We had ham and cornbread dressing, which is very popular down south. My aunt would maybe cook some gumbo. We'd have some mac and cheese, some beans — traditional Thanksgiving food. You've got to eat as soon as you get there and then eat another platea little bit after that, and then you've got to take some to go. I probably was eating the most.
That afternoon, we'd watch the games, and me and my cousins always would go outside and throw the ball around or play against the neighbors in a two-on-two game. Football was a big thing and sports in general. On Christmas, we'd be watching basketball. My whole family loves sports.
It wasn't just on Thanksgiving that I'd imagine playing in the NFL. Every football game we would watch, me and my mom spent a lot of time bonding watching football games and her traveling, taking me to little-league games. Now, it's coming true. I just remember we'd watch the games and watch interviews and would say, 'What if that's me one day on TV?' I'm actually here, so that's kind of surreal that I'm living my dreams.
Family is everything, especially in times like these when people are losing people, losing family members. You've got to cherish the ones that love you and have been there for you since Day 1.
I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for them always being there for me, especially my mom, my sister and my whole support cast. Everybody's always supported me in everything I've done. I'm thankful for my health, being able to play the game I love. I'm thankful for my teammates and the organization. It's a blessing to be here and be in this organization and to play football, the game I love.
We're not sitting at the record we want to, but we've got a lot of talent. We've got six more games to prove ourselves. This season has definitely lived up to everything I envisioned it would be, besides the record. It's a blessing to be able to play in the NFL and week-in and week-out compete at the highest level. This is what we all dreamed of since we were kids. No matter what our record is and how things are going, we understand that we're all blessed.
