RENTON, Wash. — Jadarian Price was just 12 years old when his mother sat him down for a conversation neither wanted to have.
Jessica Butler, a single mother of three, is confident a decade later that she was saved by Price. Butler gave birth to Price when she was just 18, “a baby” herself who had yet to enroll in nursing school at Grayson College in Denison, Texas.
Butler was a pillar of stability throughout Price’s childhood. She worked a full-time job in hospice care, plus side gigs cleaning toilets, driving for Uber and delivering DoorDash orders to make ends meet in a one-parent-income home.
So when Butler, at age 31, told Price she had been diagnosed with cancer, it was a shocking blow. Sixteen rounds of chemotherapy loomed.
Butler was adamant, though, that she didn’t want to miss any of Price’s baseball, basketball or football games. Because, as she put it, “I don’t know how long I’m going to be here.”
“That really stuck with me,” Price, now 22, said this week in a quiet moment after practice. “Like, ‘OK, every time she comes out to my game, I got to give it all I’ve got, ’cause this could be her last game she comes to.”
Butler is in full remission. She’s been cancer-free for nine years and has watched plenty of Price’s football games. A decade after her diagnosis, much has changed for Price, from high school stardom to a serious injury to fighting for carries at Notre Dame behind Jeremiyah Love, whom the Arizona Cardinals would draft with the No. 3 pick and who will face Price and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Last week, Price made his NFL debut, starting in place of departed Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and galloping for 52 yards on 10 carries in a 13-10 win against the New England Patriots — and Butler was there to take it all in. Neither Price’s nor Butler’s journey to that moment at Lumen Field, though, was ever guaranteed.
It did not take long for James Johnson III to identify Price’s potential. Johnson coached Price and his own son, De’Teaurean, at the Boys and Girls Club of Denison from age 5 or 6 until they went to high school.
The reserved Price didn’t say much then, nor does he these days. But his play on the field was plenty loud.
“He was the guy,” Johnson said in a recent phone call. “It was obvious to everyone that he was just a different type of kid, different type of talent.”
Price vividly remembers playing a game at the Denison High School field, where he would later be a varsity standout for four years, when he was just 6. Johnson told the kids they could run out of bounds on the full-size field if their short legs got too tired.
“I was like, ‘Nah, Coach, I’m good,’” Price recalled with a wry smile. “So I ran in for a touchdown. And he was like, ‘All right, that’s the standard now. You showed me what you can do, and you’re capable. So I’m going to hold you to that standard.’ And I thought that was something.”
The stories about Price’s work ethic — including his creative ways to rack up extra reps — run aplenty, regardless of the sport. There’s the time Price hurt his leg and couldn’t move, so he situated himself to hoist free throws from a seat at his mother’s house.
“I didn’t want to just be sitting there doing nothing when I could be getting better at something,” Price said. “Even though I couldn’t walk, I could still use my arms.”
Not having any brothers didn’t stop Price from putting his siblings, Kzaria Butler and Lyricah Coleman, to work during football season.
“They were my trash cans, my dummies when I was doing drills,” Price said of his sisters, who are two and five years younger. “I was maybe a little rough on them because I didn’t have younger brothers. But they turned out to be good athletes themselves. That was a great childhood I had with them.”
Jadarian Price, left, with his mother, Jessica Butler. (Courtesy of Jessica Butler)
Price’s father was not in the picture, and his mom worked tirelessly before and after her chemotherapy treatment. As a result, Price matured much quicker than the other kids in the neighborhood while Butler persevered against cancer.
“He saw her strength in fighting through it, and he built from that,” Johnson said. “He stood up to be the man in the house. … If she could be strong, he could be stronger. He did what he could do from a child’s perspective. He stepped up.”
After starring at Denison High, Price received 39 scholarship offers as a four-star recruit, including from Notre Dame. He enrolled early with the Fighting Irish, hoping to kickstart a banner career, but plans quickly took a turn.
Each year, Notre Dame football players write letters to their loved ones. Price penned one to his mom during his freshman year, but under unfortunate circumstances: He had ruptured his Achilles tendon that summer and would miss the entire 2022 season.
Price did not want his mom, who was roughly 1,000 miles and four states away, to worry too much.
“I let her know in the letter: ‘I watched you go through something. So even though I’m far away, without you, I can get through this. It’s OK, you don’t have to worry about me,’” Price said.
Butler recently dug up the letter, which has since been framed at her home back in Denison. She re-read it, which brought the waterworks back.
“It just touched me all over again,” Butler said. “I get so emotional.”
A letter from Jadarian Price to his mother, Jessica Butler, during his freshman year at Notre Dame after he tore his Achilles tendon. (Courtesy of Jessica Butler)
Price made a full recovery from his Achilles injury but never started a game in college. Another four-star recruit, Love arrived in 2023. That season, he and Price backed up Audric Estime, who would be drafted in the fifth round by the Denver Broncos.
In 2024, Love became Notre Dame’s starting running back, helping the Fighting Irish to the national championship game, where they lost to Ohio State. Price and Love comprised a formidable 1-2 punch, combining for 1,871 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground.
When they shared a backfield, Price and Love engaged in what the former coined a “friendly competition.” Price, though, had ample opportunities to transfer elsewhere, if he had desired a lead role.
He never seriously considered any of them — well, except maybe one.
“I was really close (to leaving) when my mom heard about what Texas Tech was offering,” Price said with a laugh. “I told her, ‘Just wait until the NFL money hits. We’ll be good.’ She trusted me on that, and look what happened.”
As Price likes to say, growth is born from adversity. Tribulations like a ruptured Achilles and being bypassed on the depth chart could have slowed him down.
Instead, Price credits his mother for instilling in him the value of perseverance, forged from her battle with breast cancer as a single mother. Without it, the No. 32 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft wouldn’t have been able to put his first paycheck to good use. Price bought his mom a house, where she and his sisters now live, just outside of Denison.
“The house is beautiful. More than I can imagine,” Butler said. “He fixed a movie room, that he painted black and designed himself. Down in Texas, we love to swim, so we have a nice-sized, beautiful pool.”
Jadarian Price, right, stayed at Notre Dame despite being stuck behind Jeremiyah Love on the depth chart. Both were drafted in the first round, and they’ll face off on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz. (James Black / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In concert with other milestone moments in his life, Price rose to the occasion in his NFL debut. He provided power and pace, speed and sizzle while demonstrating why the Seahawks felt comfortable parting ways with Walker, the MVP of Super Bowl LX.
Price might not have been the feature back in college, nor is Seattle expecting him to replace Walker all on his own. But he’s already impressed the Seahawks’ veteran running backs during his first few months in the Pacific Northwest.
“The way he learns, the way his feet are — it’s just like, shoot, JD should’ve been a starter at Notre Dame, in my opinion,” quipped backup Emanuel Wilson. “He’s impressed me a lot, just the way he comes in and works.”
“He has great contact balance, great feet, great hands in the pass game,” added George Holani. “He’s really explosive with his cuts. So, he’ll be making like two cuts in one play. And it’s crazy how he can get vertical and find that crease and then make another cut to get open and just get a lot of yards from that.”
What separates Price is not his physical abilities, as impressive as they are. His mentality, weathered by his upbringing, is perhaps his most defining characteristic.
It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that Price has already formulated a plan for after he hangs up his cleats. A former straight-A student, he would like to become a teacher one day.
“Sports aside, I really like helping people,” Price said. “I’ve always said I’m a better player when people next to me are doing good or having fun themselves. That gives me motivation.”
At his core, what Price wants most is for everyone he comes into contact with to fulfill their dreams. He’s already living out his in multiple ways. Not only is Price a professional athlete, but his mother is still around to watch his games. Butler was one of the first people he greeted at Lumen Field after making his debut.
For as much support as Price has received throughout his football life, nobody’s has meant more than mom’s. Gratitude doesn’t even begin to express Price’s appreciation for Butler’s presence every step of the way.
“Thank God,” Price said. “God works in many ways, and she’s still here, and she’s healthy. But yeah, I have much respect for everybody who goes through that breast cancer.”