‘People Make a Mistake When They Bet Against Rashan’
Note: Rashan Gary was activated from the physically unable to perform list before practice on Aug. 7. This story was originally published on Aug. 2.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jennifer Coney has been there every step of the way for Rashan Gary.
From his first step as a toddler, from his walk to get his diploma at the University of Michigan to his first step following surgery to repair a torn ACL.
Gary’s mother – the centerpiece of the Green Bay Packers star’s support system – will be there for his return to the lineup and his first sack, too.
“I’m going to cry,” she said from Gary’s home in Green Bay just before the start of training camp. “People make a mistake when they bet against Rashan.”
They made a mistake when they bet against him as a kid. Gary was well behind his classmates in grade school. Finally, when he was 12, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. As a seventh-grader, he switched school systems. Twice a week, he skipped football practice to get additional academic help.
“He did miraculously well. His reading scores, his everything just soared,” Coney said.
At Paramus Catholic High School, Gary was an Under Armour All-American, the USA Today Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time New Jersey Defensive Player of the Year. He was perhaps the hottest recruit in the nation. More than that, he excelled in the classroom, too, even though the school didn’t have a special-education program.
Rashan Gary and his mom, Jennifer Coney, in London before the Packers' game vs. the Giants in 2022. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Coney)
“Rashan was so dedicated that he didn’t need it. He just soared,” Coney said. He graduated with a 3.9 GPA and a 24 on his ACT. “Rashan has always exceeded my expectations and I’m so proud of him.”
Gary spent three years at Michigan. Thanks in part to the help of Brittney Papadopoulos, who tutors athletes at the school and reminded Gary that the “NFL is an opportunity, it’s not a career,” he was well on his way to earning his degree in general studies by the time he was drafted in the first round by the Packers in 2019.
“I told my mom I’d be able to come back and get it done and, basically, throughout how this year went for me, I was able to have some time on my hands to go back and finish the promise that I promised my mom,” Gary said last month.
Having signed a four-year contract worth almost $16 million after getting drafted, he didn’t really need his degree. Nonetheless, by taking online classes, he pecked away at getting the 17 remaining credits needed to graduate. Sidelined by his torn ACL and with nothing but free time between arduous rehab sessions, Gary doubled down on his studies. Gary kept his promise and, on April 28, received his diploma.
“Rashan is a man of his word,” Coney said. “When they called his name, I was just screaming and taking videos and taking pictures. I was so proud of him. I knew that he could accomplish it and he never stopped pursuing his degree.”
As the mother of a star football player and college graduate, which accomplishment makes her prouder?
“I don’t know. That’s a good question” she replied. “I never thought about what am I more proud of. I am proud of his degree, but I think I’m proud of his dedication.
“I’m proud that he didn’t give up. I’m proud that when he put something in front of him, he goes to it and he doesn’t let anything or anyone deter him. No, he didn’t need his degree, but that’s something that he wanted. And I think it’s because he had dyslexia. And there were so many people – so many academic teachers, counselors – who said Rashan would never be successful. So, that was important to me – not to overcome something but to be able to go beyond what people say you cannot do.”
Gary has attacked his comeback from the torn ACL with the same vigor. It was a freak injury, sustained during a simple change of direction on the synthetic surface of Detroit’s Ford Field on Nov. 6.
Coney will never forget that day. She attends the games played at Lambeau Field but was home in Georgia watching the game when Gary went down. The mother of one of Gary’s high school teammates broke the news.
Coney didn’t want to hear it.
“I simply said to her, ‘Why would you think I would want to hear that from you?’ she said. “I remember the conversation. I was so upset because, ‘I don’t even know you. For you to call me and tell me my son was injured, why do you think that was OK?’ That was my initial reaction. I deflected about everything and exploded on her.’”
About 40 minutes later, the phone rang again. It was a member of the Packers’ medical staff. Then, Gary called.
“During that conversation, Rashan got on the phone and all he said was, ‘Mom,’” Coney recalled. “And I heard it in his voice, and I said, ‘I’ll be right there.’”
Rashan Gary and his mom, Jennifer Coney (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Coney)
Coney called her daughter and her husband, packed a couple bags and was on the way to the airport. That night, she arrived at Gary’s place in Green Bay.
“‘We’re going to get through it like we get through every other day,’” was her message. “And that’s all I had because I didn’t have anything else, you know?”
Coney wasted no time in finding for the right doctor to fix her son’s knee.
“I wanted somebody with a gold star,” she said. “And so I went searching for somebody who had done athletes that came back big and strong and powerful.”
Who performed the surgeries on NFL stars who sustained torn ACLs? The answer, in many cases, was the renowned Los Angeles surgeon, Dr. Neil ElAttrache.
So, she said a prayer and called. The next day, ElAttrache was on the phone.
The Packers agreed on ElAttrache. With that, the easy part was taken care of. Next came the hard stuff.
Surgery was done on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Gary was out of the hospital the next day. The Thanksgiving meal was supposed to be Wendy’s. Instead, ElAttrache personally delivered a holiday feast.
“He brought like four shopping bags full of food for us,” Coney said. “Oh, my goodness. All the big things.”
The next day, rehab began.
They had to stay in Los Angeles for three weeks. They got a Ford Flex, giving Gary ample room to get to rehab and enjoy road trips with his mom.
“We went to Hollywood and we went to Pacific Coast Highway,” Coney said. “He turned 25 while we were out there and we had a great dinner. We tried to make the best of a bad situation. And it really wasn’t that bad. Well, it was bad, but it really wasn’t that bad.”
After three weeks, it was back to Green Bay for rehab under the supervision of Nate Weir, the Packers’ associate athletic trainer/director of rehab and return to play. Coney was there every day to take Gary’s bags and drive him to and from Lambeau.
The season ended on Jan. 8 with a loss to Detroit. Gary was set to go back to his mom’s house in Georgia, so the Packers set him up for one-on-one physical therapy near her home.
Rashan Gary and his mom, Jennifer Coney (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Coney)
On Jan. 12, the day before they were scheduled to leave for Georgia, it was back to Lambeau for one more session with Weir.
“I’m waiting for him to get to the car,” Coney recalled “and he calls me and I say, ‘Are you OK? Are you ready?’ You know, I would jump out to get him. And he said, ‘Yeah, I just need you to get out, but you don’t have to open the door.’ And let me tell you, he opened the door and he walked to the car.”
For six weeks, Coney had been there for every step of Gary’s comeback. Now, she was there for his first steps after surgery.
“I just bawled.”
She wasn’t alone.
“He was crying, I was crying, Nate was happy,” Coney said. “I gave him a big old hug, I thanked him. And Rashan has never looked back.”
As Gary put it in June: “There really hasn’t been no tough part. I’ll tell you a very emotional day was my first steps. Because I’ve been getting better day by day, nothing’s really been hard on me, but a very emotional day for me was my first steps, and my mom being able to see me walk to the car. She has been grabbing my bags, helping me, so taking those first steps for my mom.”
Gary opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list, a couple needed milestones “within a hand’s reach,” Coney said, standing between Gary making his debut.
“Rashan has worked his ass off,” Coney said. “Mentally, he’s ready to go. He’s ready to do everything he has to do. And I believe that they also see that, but let’s not rush it.”
It should be no surprise when he’s on the field in Week 1.
“I’m willing to tell you because maybe you don’t know,” Coney continued, “Rashan is the hardest-working young man I know and he has been the hardest-working young man since he came to me and he said, ‘Mom, I think I want to be a professional football player.’ And I said, ‘Well, if you’re going to be a professional football player, you’ve got to work harder than anybody else. You’ve got to come early, you’ve got to stay late. You’ve got to do what they do, plus more.’
“And he said, ‘Mom, I want to be the No. 1 kid in the country.’ I said, ‘Well, what did the last No. 1 kid in the country do? You’ve got to do what he’s doing and do more.’ That’s who he is.”
Gary worked to conquer dyslexia and earn a college degree. He worked to become the best high school player in the country and one of the best defensive players in the NFL. He will work himself back into a star football player, too.
He might not have accomplished any of those feats without his mom.
“Rashan’s dad passed away, so it was the three of us,” Coney said of Gary and her daughter. “We did the Three Musketeers and we do everything together. My husband’s super-understanding and a great guy. ‘Your son needs you. Rashan needs you, you’ve got to be there.’ He’s so supportive. Me and Rashan, we have a team behind us. They support me so I can stop and drop when Rashan needs me.
“But Rashan – and I’m not just saying this because he’s my son – but he’s a phenomenal young man. He just wants to be the best. …
“When he messes up, I let him know. But I am, I can say, his biggest supporter and I’m his toughest critic. ‘You missed that tackle. What the hell. What were you looking at?’ Oh, he gets so mad at me. I say, ‘Well, you know, the truth hurts.’ But he’s a good kid. He hates when I say that. He says, ‘I’m not a kid.’ I know he’s a good young man. He’s always been a good kid to me.”
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