EXCLUSIVE: Raiders' M.J. Devonshire Talks About His Parents, Hometown Community

Las Vegas Raiders seventh-round pick M.J. Devonshire has a great support system at home.

Oct 14, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back M.J. Devonshire (12) / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Las Vegas Raiders draftee M.J. Devonshire makes a point to credit his parents when it comes to his journey to the NFL.

The young cornerback from Pitt's dream was achieved when his name was called that last weekend of April. But it wasn't just about him.

"t means a lot," Devonshire said. "Like I said, seeing the excitement on their face, it was big. It was like a dream come true for not only me, but for them. Because they know how much I cared and how much I wanted this. And they believed in it just as much as me. They knew it was really no other option for me. It was NFL or — it was all or nothing. And I put all my chips on the table in this, and to see them, it was like we all cashed out, we all won, we all beat the dealer.

"And not just my family, so much, the community. Aliquippa [Pennsylvania], we send guys to the NFL a lot, but it was just, for me to be the next one. And in this community, you're often not raised by just one person. You can ask any of my friends, you may not have been just yelled at or even whooped by just my mom and dad; if I did something, it might've been one of my friend's moms. Or you could be on the street like, 'Oh, I can't do nothing here because my mom knows that person that lives there, my dad knows that person.' It takes a village, and the whole community definitely did its part in not only me but a lot of my friends in raising us.

"So, seeing them all so happy, genuinely, for me. And also, they tell me all the time: 'I don't want anything from you, I just want to see you accomplish your dreams and live out your dreams.' So, just knowing that and seeing that ... that was a special moment for not only me and my family but for the whole entire Aliquippa community."

You can watch Devonshire's entire interview with Carpenter here.

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