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From homeless teen to NFL end zone: The remarkable journey of Patriots RB Terrell Jennings
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- From homeless teen to NFL end zone: The remarkable journey of Patriots RB Terrell Jennings
Natalia Gonzalez knew something was wrong.
Terrell Jennings had just helped carry the Mandarin High School Mustangs to a thrilling Florida Class 8A State Championship victory. The 18-year-old running back from Jacksonville was getting recruited by USF, Western Kentucky, UT-Chattanooga and other mid-major schools. College football was on the horizon.
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But Jennings' grades began to crater out of nowhere.
At Mandarin, the "Adopt a Mustang" program has existed for decades, where faculty members are encouraged to choose a varsity athlete to mentor. "Mustang parents" might occasionally provide players with a snack or lunch, but the main priority is keeping tabs on grades and offering a sounding board for whatever the kids are going through.
Gonzalez, a health and physical education teacher, first had Jennings in her sophomore gym class. She quickly took a liking to the quiet, respectful football player. Jennings was rehabbing a broken tibia that he suffered on the field, so he couldn't participate, but was eager to assist Gonzalez with scorekeeping and things of that nature.
"I connected with him differently than other students because there were certain things that he couldn't do," said Gonzalez, who chose Jennings when the next Adopt a Mustang roster was posted. "It was an easy decision for me."
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Even when he wasn't in her class as a senior, she was still his Mustang Mom. So when Gonzalez saw Jennings' grades nosedive, she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
It was crunch time for college applications. Jennings had so much to look forward to. Why was this happening?
Gonzalez sought out his teachers and the message was universal. The issue wasn't that Jennings suddenly didn't understand the material he was being given. He was getting zeroes because he hadn't been showing up to school.
Just months before graduation, the absences didn't make any sense to Gonzalez, so she kept investigating. Eventually, an assistant coach revealed the answer.
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Jennings was homeless.
'What am I going to do?'
Senior year wasn't the first time Jennings had dealt with housing insecurity.
As a junior, his stepfather was unemployed and his mother, LaTonya Nelson, was working as a bus driver. They couldn't afford an apartment on that income alone and were forced to live in a hotel for two months. Jennings often slept on the floors and couches of friends so he could still get to school. It was far from ideal, but Jennings made it work and never revealed anything.
"Always had a smile on his face," Gonzalez said.
One of the houses that Jennings crashed at belonged to the grandmother of wide receiver DeMario Douglas. The two future New England Patriots were teammates and hung out almost every day. Douglas' grandmother's house was the type of place with a 24/7 open-door policy for friends.
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"All our friends used to stay at our house just because that's how we were," Douglas said. "We were all close. So even on a school night, we'd have our friends stay over."
But in January of Jennings' senior year, things became unmanageable.
His mother couldn't work as she dealt with back issues. As she tried to navigate the disability benefits process, Jennings' stepfather, Clyde Nelson, was deported to Guyana. Suddenly, there was no income for rent at all.
"I was left in tears," LaTonya Nelson said. "Like, what am I going to do?"
Adulthood arrived early for Nelson.
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A flag twirler in the William M. Raines High School marching band, she once dreamed of going to Florida A&M, whose music they often mirrored. When she was young, her father took her to the Florida Classic to see FAMU play Bethune-Cookman University in Tampa. One day, she wanted to be a FAMU Rattler.
But then Nelson got pregnant at 16, and those dreams were buried as she needed to figure out how to support a child. Her mother urged her to go to the local women's shelter where the staff might be able to help her find an apartment.
"I graduated high school with a 6-month-old," Nelson said. "I had to get out there and learn fast."
Almost a decade later, Jennings was born.
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The baby of the family, Jennings was Nelson's fourth child. Through all of their financial hardships and housing upheaval, she was always there for her son.
Jennings fell in love with football early. As a 2-year-old, he'd run down the field with a ball almost as big as he was. Once he started playing, any time Jennings looked to the crowd, he knew his mother would be there watching him.
"Just to see her in those stands cheering me every Friday and Saturday throughout my life has just been amazing," Jennings said. "Because without her support, I don't know who would be out there supporting me on the field."
Now unable to work and with Jennings' stepfather gone, she couldn't support him off of the field. Trying to find a way to school was no longer a priority for Jennings. Finding a place to sleep was.
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'The same heart as us'
Private by nature, Jennings kept the situation quiet. In fact, for a while Douglas didn't know even though Jennings was asleep nearby.
"I really didn't notice," Douglas said. "Just how he carried himself. You didn't notice until you really looked."
When Gonzalez discovered that Jennings was homeless, she had a message for the assistant football coach: Just find a way to get him to school so she could talk to him.
Gonzalez and Jennings had developed a close relationship, and the senior referred to his Mustang Mom as "Mama G." When he returned for a day, Gonzalez started to tread lightly.
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"I let him know, 'Hey if you need anything, you know that I've got a fridge full of stuff,'" Gonzalez said. "'If you ever want to grab a Gatorade, a granola bar, a peanut butter sandwich, stop by.'"
Jennings began to open up a little.
He told Gonzalez his family was going through a difficult time, but not to worry because they were going to be OK. The conversation turned to improving his grades, scheduling SATs, and Gonzalez was optimistic they'd be able to get things on track.
But then she didn't see Jennings for days.
After a week, he called Gonzalez and told her everything that was going on. He hadn't been coming to school because he didn't have a ride.
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"He flat out just said, 'Listen, I'm struggling right now, and would you be able to let me stay at your place for a while so that I could get to school?'" Gonzalez said. "I thought, 'Whoa!' That was unexpected, but at the same time without hesitation and without consulting with my family, I said, 'Yes, of course. Whatever you need.'"
Mustang Moms Natalia Gonzalez (left) and Alissa Kester (middle) with their daughter, Mila and Terrell Jennings (right).Natalia Gonzalez
Gonzalez's wife, Alissa Kester, was welcoming of the situation even though the couple had an 18-month-old daughter, Mila. Kester is a social studies teacher at Mandarin, and also happened to be Douglas' Mustang Mom. She understood the dynamic.
Seeing a solution to his friend's problem, Douglas encouraged Jennings to ask the Mustang Moms if he could move into their spare bedroom.
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"They're so caring and giving," Douglas said. "It felt like they had the same heart as us. Giving and making sure the next person becomes something. I felt like that was the right thing to do. They're very caring and they're very nice."
Gonzalez reached out to Nelson to make sure the arrangement would be OK with her. Nelson was extremely grateful. She'd stay with some family. She was just happy that her son would be in a great situation.
"She always makes Terrell a priority," Gonzalez said.
Nobody had any idea whether Jennings would be living with the Mustang Moms for a few days, weeks, or months. He was just thrilled to have a bed to sleep in.
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"I appreciated them so much," Jennings said. "But it was surreal that I was in that situation. You see it on TV like, 'Dang, man, kids really go through this.' I was in that situation at that point. It was a good and a bad feeling, because while these people are here for me, they really care about me enough to bring me into their home, but still, my mom is still in this situation as well. She's staying with my grandmother, but that's not the ideal situation."
Weeks turned to months, and with things going well, Jennings stayed with "Mama G" and "Mama K" through graduation.
With a ride to school and a secure place to lay his head, his grades rebounded. The Mustang Moms got Jennings his tux for senior prom and helped him navigate his college search. They treated Jennings as a member of the family, and now he refers to Gonzalez and Kester as his godparents.
"Just because I felt like God sent them there to be those second parents that I never had," Jennings said.
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With his academics and recruitment derailed for a bit, Jennings considered going to junior college, but ultimately chose Florida A&M, the school his mother once dreamed of attending as a teenager.
When it came time to move Jennings into Tallahassee, the car was packed. Nelson, "Mama G," and "Mama K" carpooled together to set him up at school. They all enjoyed the road trip to Florida A&M, and the day was especially meaningful for Nelson.
"Once he got there as a student, that was a dream come true for him and for me," Nelson said. "Seeing my children excel, knowing what I've been through, but watching them all grow and do positive things in life, I couldn't ask for anything better than that as a parent."
'That's my ball!'
The adversity Jennings conquered early prepared him to face whatever life has in store, on and off the field.
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"It really just taught me never to stop," Jennings said. "Always keep going because I have God and my family to help me right there. I have no other problems. That's really what it is. Throughout this whole moment, I just keep going in my head. Even when I was going through those situations, I was just preaching, 'Keep going,' to myself. Just because I know that's the biggest thing. Once you stop, you get stagnant. That's when your mind gets messed up."
As an FCS program, Florida A&M doesn't often attract many NFL scouts. Though Jennings led the team in both rushing and touchdowns during his senior season and the Rattlers went 12-1, he wasn't invited to the NFL Combine or any showcases like the East-West Shrine Bowl. His name was never called in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Still, Jennings found a way.
After receiving an invitation to rookie minicamp in New England, Jennings impressed Jerod Mayo's coaching staff and earned a contract, reuniting with Douglas in an NFL locker room. When Jennings was released on cutdown day last summer, he signed with New England's practice squad. In December, he earned a spot on the 53-man roster. After years of battling, Jennings had finally made it.
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Then there was a regime change.
With Mayo gone and Mike Vrabel taking over, the veteran coach overhauled the organization, but opted to keep Jennings in the fold. Once again, the running back began the season on the practice squad, and then played his way onto the 53-man roster, earning another new coach's trust along the way.
"He's a great teammate. I believe that, I know that, I've seen that," Vrabel said. "He cares about his teammates. Plays hard, unselfish, and then he runs hard."
On Nov. 2, Jennings broke all the way through.
In a 24-23 win over the Falcons at Gillette Stadium, Jennings took a handoff from Drake Maye at the 3-yard line, was hit at the goal line, and powered through the contact for his first career touchdown. His teammates swarmed him in the end zone.
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At home in Jacksonville, Nelson was overcome with excitement — and then texted the group chat she has with all of her children.
"I texted the thread immediately and I was like 'Congratulations, Terrell!'" Nelson said. "And I was like, 'That's my ball! Just know, that's my ball!'"
Before Jennings even checked his phone, he'd already earmarked the keepsake for the woman he'd been through so much with. It was going to be her football from the moment Jennings crossed the goal line.
"My mom did her best," Jennings said. "She was always there with me."
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