The Maturation Of DJ Chark
DJ Chark knew it was time to grow up.
The second-rounder out of LSU had a mildly respectable rookie season with 14 receptions for 174 yards. But that wasn’t enough.
He was fulfilling a goal of becoming a professional football player. But that wasn’t enough.
“I think the growing in my life really started before last year after my rookie year, just not being happy with what I saw out of myself on the field, off the field, just things that needed changing,” Chark recalled for reporters on Wednesday.
So at 22-years-old between his rookie and second year, Chark and his then-girlfriend, now wife—Chantelle Deanna Yukari Chark— helped move the star receiver closer to who wanted him to be; who he needed to be for himself. And ergo, who he needed to become for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“That growth, for me, it was basically just being a man, making the right decisions, and standing on my word. So, whatever I say, whatever I do, whatever consequences or cause and effect, whatever you may say, I have to live with that. I have to go every day with that, so I’d rather put my best foot forward so whatever trickles down from that, it’ll be more manageable.”
Putting his best foot forward has meant redefining his standards as a player, a citizen, a husband and soon, a father. It also meant accepting what was within his control, what was out of it and how to marry the two.
During the 2019 season’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign, Chark elected to highlight mental health awareness.
“It’s for anxiety and depression awareness,” he explained to reporters in the locker room while showing off his freshly painted cleats.
“[It’s] something I dealt with growing up and the staff at LSU actually helped me out and once I got here, the Jaguars staff actually helped me out too. So it’s something that a lot of players don’t talk about. They don’t have a platform to talk about or they don’t have a platform to talk about it but I’m comfortable enough to speak on it.”
It’s a subject that so many avoid with a 10-foot pole. Yet the willingness to step out of the shadowed comfort space and into the discussion underscores Chark’s promise to himself and Chantelle to be a man while “standing on my word” -- even when it means standing on a lonely platform.
And by doing so, he began to build a bridge for others to join him. The realization he could make an impact in variety of ways, as long as he did so in an honest way, changed the player and man that DJ Chark became.
The most visible subset Chark brought along with him is of course his teammates. After the growing pains of his rookie season, Chark exploded in Year 2, with 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns, earning a spot on the AFC Team in the 2020 Pro Bowl. He even joined former Jaguars legend Jimmy Smith (Sept. 10, 2000) as the only players to register at least 160 receiving yards and two-plus receiving touchdowns in a single game.
But for as much as he was growing comfortable speaking on subjects he felt deserved his voice, his growth on the football field was birthed from the understanding some things are better shown than said.
It’s why even though he’s currently on pace this year to just undercut his yard total from 2019, but surpass his scoring total, Chark has shown emotion and frustration and confusion during the Jaguars 1-7 start, stemming from his inability to fix the problems on his own.
“I have pretty high goals for myself, goals that I usually don’t speak on, but I hold myself to those standards. So, any frustration that the outside may see, it’s because of my goals and the way that I want things to happen, not necessarily based on anyone else or the team or anything.
“It’s really an internal battle for myself and so even on good games, like the last game, I felt like I did well, but if I had to grade myself it definitely wasn’t 100 percent and I definitely feel like I could’ve done better. That’s something that my wife talked to me about, just basically I can’t put too much pressure on shoulders but I feel like if I want to be great, that’s the expectations that I have to reach. It’s really just me versus me.”
The last game which Chark mentioned was his best of the season. He hauled in seven receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown, helping ease in rookie passer Jake Luton who was suiting up for his first NFL game ever. It worked, as Luton threw for 304 yards, the most ever by a Jaguars rookie passer in their debut.
The game came on the heels of Chark and Yukari getting married over the bye week. The couple who has been together since they were 17-years old married with just the two of them and a minister on Amelia Island.
“I can honestly say she’s my best friend. She keeps it real with me no matter what,” Chark says, crediting his new wife as the biggest influence in his growth and maturation…and bye week restrictions for creating the wedding of their dreams.
“I feel like that was the best way to get married, just me, her, Amelia Island, bye week. I still had to drive up to the stadium every day to get my nose swabbed, but I felt like that’s the best way I could’ve done it.”
In addition to getting married, Chark used the bye week continuing to help teach others as he himself learns. After electing to become a first time voter for the latest Presidential election, the 24-year old committed to being a part of democracy and encouraging others to do the same, never sacrificing the access each has to be a difference in the world. Remembering that it’s not just about what happens in each four year term or who is in the office. It’s about staying involved in the process and growing with our country.
“I feel like the country, I can’t necessarily [say is] headed in the right direction because we have to see what happens, but hopefully sometimes change is good. The last four years have been tough, but even before then we had some tough times. The biggest thing about this election was the amount of people who registered to vote, not necessarily about who won, who lost.
“It just showed that people cared about making change and I think that’s the biggest thing that I can take from it is that people were actively putting forth the effort to go out and make a change, whether their change is for Democrats, Republicans. They still took the time to register to vote, took the time to go and vote and I think that’s the biggest thing.
“I think if we can continue to move forward and people be more active in trying to be the change that they want to see, I think the younger generation sees this and so the next four years, whoever the candidates may be have an even larger number of people who go out to vote. I feel like that’s when you start getting more democracy.”
The most impactful way Chark sees to make that difference though is the area in which he’s grown the most. No longer a kid just playing football, the receiver is preparing for the biggest change yet in his young year. Father to a little girl, due May 2021.
“To have a girl on the way is…”
A long pause here, as he stops to gather words to properly explain what has already become the most important part of his life.
“I wanted a girl because I felt like a boy, I can raise him, tell him the things that I did growing up, but a girl’s just a different side. I want to be able to be a great father figure in a strong woman’s life and help her grow up and make a difference in this world.
“So, that’s the biggest thing for me, I feel like that’s the challenge. I’ve done it as a man, feel like I’ve made a difference in a lot of people’s lives, but I definitely want to be able to help a young lady grow up to be a great woman in this world.”
It’s no longer time for DJ Chark to grow up. He’s there and changing the world around him along the way.
