In Players Tribune, Jones Writes ‘It’s Time for a Change’

For Father's Day Weekend, Packers running back Aaron Jones reflects on being a father and race in the United States

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On April 17, Aaron Jones Jr. was born.

“Having a baby in the midst of a pandemic, it was a little different,” Aaron Jones Sr., the Green Bay Packers’ star running back, said in a Zoom call recently. “Most people get to have their families in the delivery room but it was just me and my girlfriend. But it’s like, hey, you guys are parents. It’s nobody else but you two. You guys made the baby. It was pretty cool to see. I’m glad I was able to be here and still able to be here with my baby. He’s doing great – healthy. It’s definitely been a blessing but it’s definitely been different, as well. Going to the first week checkups when only one parent can be in the room is a little different.”

In time, when Jones looks back at his son’s first year, COVID-19 might be a mere footnote compared to the strife in the United States triggered by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On Father’s Day weekend, Jones reflected in a first-person piece for the Players Tribune titled “Two Fathers.”

That first month was really such a happy time.

But then about four weeks ago, everything changed. And the way I felt about fatherhood changed, too.

I still love it, don’t get me wrong. My son is the light of my life. But I have a whole different perspective now because it’s not just me anymore. I have to worry about somebody else, and that somebody is an African-American child that I don’t want to grow up in an America that’s the way it is today, where the world’s not on his side. I’ve already imagined having those conversations with him — about how to act and behave when he’s out in public, and especially when he’s dealing with the police. I’ve actually had them with him a few times. He doesn’t understand yet, of course. But it’s almost like I’m doing it more for me, because I’ve definitely felt the need to start talking to him now.

To have the same conversation with him that my father had with me when I was a kid.

For the entire piece, in which Jones writes about his childhood, military parents, life in the United States and support from the Packers, CLICK HERE.