Dennis Cox was joined by Jenny Coker, mother of Carolina Panther wide receiver Jalen Coker, to discuss being the parent of an NFL player, supporting Jalen through the NFL Draft process, her emotions when Jalen signed with the Panthers, and seeing her son fulfill his dream.

Special interview here on Panthers playbook. This is Jenny Coker. A lot of people know Jalen Coker, the wide receiver wears number 18 for the Carolina Bathers. But a lot of people don’t know. Jenny Coker is the mom of Jalen Coker. All right, I know a lot of people out there that watch this, just watch sports in general, know the feeling of watching their son or daughter play a sport, whether it’s from professional all the way on the youth level. And that feeling you get of watching your kid be successful and just playing a sport that they love. Has that changed? Any since Jalen was playing youth sports up until now. You see him playing here in the NFL? No, I think, I think we started watching him play football when he was five and the moment seeing him just run around the field, it was, it’s the same as it is now. It’s just on a bigger stage, but there’s just so much, um, incredible, like, I don’t even know, it’s super exciting to see where he’s come from and where he is now. Well, I’m sure a lot of people can relate to it. Again, seeing their child be successful. At what point did you know that this was something that could be real for him? Um I always thought it could be real for him because he’s always wanted it. This was literally he was going to be an NFL football player when he grew up, that was what he would say. And he did try all the sports and he was also an incredible basketball player. So I thought maybe basketball might actually be it. But um but no, it’s, I always knew this was possible and with the focus and commitment that he puts in, I mean, it was really just give him the opportunity and I knew he would shine. All right, take us behind the scenes behind, let’s peel back the curtain. As a family member, we always see players go through the draft process in terms of scouting, combine pro days workouts with teams and all that. But as a parent, you’re trying to see your kid become a professional and it’s really no different than any other parent out there trying to see their kid, you know, reach the professional level at, at any field. Really? What was that process like for you all as Jalen was trying to reach, like reach to where he is now just behind the scenes, the months and weeks leading up to where we are today. Yeah, I mean, just a lot of commitment on his part. He was training in Florida. Um I met with lots of different agents as he was going through like which agent to choose, really just wanting to be there with him every step of the way, knowing that all of these things were like markers that were saying, OK, we are on our way to the NFL draft and then we had a huge day three party for him and I must have had 100 and 50 people in my house. It was an incredible, incredible experience, but emotional up and down all day long and, and then to see how it’s ended, it’s, it’s honestly, it’s like it, it is his dream come true. Well, take us into those emotions. What were you feeling on that day? Just, um, you know, wanting it so bad, you know, wanting it, wanting something more, then you want anything for yourself. Um And I think any parent who has kids that, you know, follow their dream and anything wants that so much for them. And so I felt that for him and, you know, just the ups and downs of it all, you know, getting called out, coming back into the room, called out, back into the room, you know, pick by, pick round by round, you know, and nothing’s happening and, and, but a lot of talk, nothing, you know, he’s not, the name is not being called and just to kind of see that, um you know, you just, you just can’t do anything to really take away that, you know, the up and down or just the emotional part of it. But, you know, just the belief in God that it’s going to work out the way it should and it did. All right, let’s go into the moment. He actually puts a pen to paper, signs a contract. What were you feeling? So, actually, we, we didn’t see that contract moment per se, but um we had a moment like that. So one of the things that Jalen we talked about for his draft party is we, we bought all 32 NFL hats and we put them on a table and when he came out of the room, um he, he looked around at everyone and then he went to the table and he shuffled all the hats for a good like 10 seconds seemed like two minutes and he put the Carolina Panthers hat on and the entire house cheered. Unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of the energy was insane and chanting Jalen Coger, the, I mean, this is in our house, but it was, that was, that was the moment that I believe like if I had watched the contract, I think I had that in that moment because of the hat going on. Ok. Now let’s go into the moment you see him run out here, not just a preseason game, but actually, hey, you’re on the 53 man roster. It’s your chance to go out there and play. It was here at Bank of America two weeks ago when they played the Cincinnati Bengals. When you saw him, I was actually standing over here with you. You saw him up there on the Jumbotron ready to come out for warm ups. Take us to that moment. That’s incredible. I mean, surreal. I think I use surreal way too much. I don’t know what a stronger word but it is, it literally, this whole process is surreal. You want your kids to get out of college if they go to college and get their first job. The fact that my son, his first job is in the NFL is, um, it’s not something that a lot of other parents get to talk about or share. And so, yeah, seeing him on the board ready to come out of that tunnel finally in uniform in a regular season, knowing that this is his dream, but that just so small percentage of kids get this opportunity. And it’s just incredible. Are you like most parents, whether it’s youth or high school college? Do you live and breathe in every single moment, live and die in every kind of moment out there with the team? Yeah. I think most parents do. They may not say it but they do. I think you’re, your emotions are up and down. Your heart’s pounding out of your chest, you know. Um, yeah, when he was three years old, five years old, whatever playing football to, to little, you know, pee wee football and then travel and then high school college. Yeah. You, you just want something so much for somebody else that you, you feel it, you, you, you’re in it with them.