ASHBURN, Va. (7News) — Javon Kinlaw has one goal as he enters his first season with the team he grew up cheering for: “put on for the city.”
“Being home and [having] people know you, it’s a special feeling,” Kinlaw said.
“It just makes you want to go that much harder for the city.”
The Commanders’ defensive lineman joined the team in the offseason and admits it was a welcome surprise to his family and friends.
“They were all just like me: we couldn’t believe it,” he told 7News Sports Anchor Natalie Spala. “I probably walked around the house for 20 minutes straight trying to wrap my head around it, because everything that I’ve gone through growing up, all the adversity that I faced, to be able to come back to the city where it all started, it’s amazing.”
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Over the course of his football career — which involved stops at Goose Creek High School in South Carolina, Jones College in Ellisville, Mississippi, and the University of South Carolina before his pro days — Kinlaw has opened up about his childhood. Growing up in DC, he admits he endured his fair share of trauma. His early years were spent moving from place to place, crashing in friends’ basements. At times, he’d go without electricity or running water.
Now back in DC on his own terms, he’s rewriting his own story.
“I got the pen in my hand,” Kinlaw said. “Growing up, I used to catch the train past the old stadium every day. I used to see it every day. So it’s surreal, I’m telling you.”
Kinlaw was brought in to improve Washington’s defensive line and help stop the run game of opposing offensives. He understands there is pressure to perform, but is maintaining a ‘one day at a time’ approach.
“Everybody got a job to do at the end of the day, and having pressure is a good thing. What you do with it is your choice,” Kinlaw said. “I’m just looking to improve every day. I ain’t worried too much about what’s going on on the outside. I’m not worried about any of that.”