Justin Jefferson is an American Football wide receiver in the NFL, played college football with LSU and selected by Vikings in the 2020 NFL Draft. Here's the 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Justin Jefferson!”
10. Jefferson committed to Louisiana State University in the summer of 2017.
He was the No. 76 football recruit in the state of Louisiana that year. He wasn’t ranked too highly nationally before joining LSU and was only a two-star recruit. Jefferson was the No. 308th ranked wide receiver in America and the No. 2,166th ranked player overall in the country in 2017. Jefferson is now one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers, showing that you cannot always predict which high school players will go on to NFL stardom. When Jefferson showed up on campus at LSU in 2018, he wasn’t guaranteed a spot on the team. He had to pass summer school classes to raise his grades to become academically eligible.
9. At LSU, Jefferson set a single-season record for receptions with 111 during the 2019 season.
When he finished his LSU career, he was ranked No. 5 in receptions with 165, No. 6 in receiving yards with 2,415, and No. 3 in receiving touchdowns with 24. Jefferson’s records are all the more extraordinary when you realize he didn’t catch a pass during his freshman year. The wide receiver played just two seasons at LSU, and he entered the NFL Draft before his senior year.
8. The Minnesota Vikings wide receiver was a late bloomer.
As a freshman at Destrehan High School in Louisiana, Jefferson wasn’t promoted to the varsity team. He played safety on the freshman football team. It was a discouraging time for Jefferson, especially with both of his bothers, Jordan and Rickey, having had successful high school careers before going on to LSU.
7. When he was 9 years old, Jefferson stepped onto an NFL field for the first time.
He was a participant in the Punt, Pass, and Kick National Championship. The event was held at the home of the Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jefferson finished third with an overall score of 168 feet, 9 inches. The event allowed Jefferson to experience a great weekend with a free flight, free hotel, and tickets to the Panthers vs Cardinals game.
6. Jefferson is in a relationship with Instagram model Tianna Harris.
Not only is Harris an Instagram model with over 2,700 followers, but she is a soccer player at Kent State University. Harris started her college soccer career at Mississippi State before transferring to Kent State prior to the 2019 season. Harris has shown her love for the Vikings wide receiver on social media since the two began dating. She could even be called Jefferson’s hype person for all of the tweets and retweets she does to promote Jefferson.
5. As a freshman football player at Destrehan High School, Jefferson was 5 feet 7 inches tall and 125 pounds.
He was on the small side and during a practice against the varsity team, Jefferson broke his elbow. After having an x-ray done, the doctor showed Jefferson’s family the images of the young man’s joints and informed them that the future NFL player was about to hit a growth spurt.
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4. Justin and his brothers aren’t the only members of the family to play collegiate sports.
Their dad, John, played college basketball at Division II Nebraska Western in the late 1980s. He later transferred to Louisiana-Monroe, which was known as Northeast Louisiana back then. John allegedly had a 42-inch vertical leap. Although John stands 6 feet 1 inch, Justin got his height from his mother, Elaine. Elaine and her sisters are all around 6 feet tall. Both parents were good basketball players and expectations were high that Justin would play the sport rather than football.
3. When Jefferson committed to LSU in 2017, he continued a family tradition.
His brothers Jordan and Rickey both played for the Tigers prior to Justin’s arrival in Baton Rouge. Jordan was the first of the brothers to play for LSU between 2008 and 2011. He played quarterback for the team and was a member of the Tigers when they finished as the runner-up for the national championship. Although Jordan was invited to the 2012 NFL Combine, he wasn’t drafted and spent time on the practice squads for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. Middle brother, Rickey, played defensive back at LSU and went undrafted before signing with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2017. Rickey had a short stint with the New Orleans Saints before being cut by the team.
2. Justin Jefferson 40 yard dash
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jefferson participated in a 40-yard dash with Kansas City Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White, and Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs. White ran a 4.37 40-yard dash, which finished third behind Hardman's 4.22 and Ruggs’ 4.26. Jefferson posted a 4.50 time, which was slower than his 4.43 time at the NFL combine prior to the 2020 NFL Draft. The contest was part of a commercial for paper towel company Bounty. The footage was spliced together and the NFL players didn’t actually run against each other. The players donated money to a charity of their choice by doing the commercial.
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1. In April of 2021, it was announced that Jefferson would be the first-ever NFL player to be featured in Fortnite.
The wide receiver’s inclusion in the game came thanks to his touchdown celebration dance, “the Griddy”. The dance has been made famous by Jefferson, yet the wide receiver did not create it. Allen “Griddy” Davis created the dance phenomenon and Jefferson has made it famous. Davis initially did the dance as a “pre-game turnup” and it became popular with a number of players, including Jefferson. By 2019, Jefferson was doing it after scoring touchdowns for LSU. He debuted it following a score against the Texas Longhorns.
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