Levi Edwards: Coming from a military family, you played football in Naples, Italy, as a teenager. How did that experience mold you as a football player?
Ashton Jeanty: “With the aspect of traveling, over there an away game is really an away game. You’re not just going 30 minutes over to the next high school, we’re flying across the waters to Spain or driving 18 hours to Germany. I think taking care of your body, hydrating so you can be be prepared to play the next day [is important].
LE: What were some of the cooler experiences that came from living in Italy?
AJ: “Really just being a tourist every day. Obviously I lived out there, but just traveling, seeing new things every day, seeing different places. Learning a different culture, even a little bit of a new language. Don’t ask me to speak Italian though.”
LE: You have a big social media presence on TikTok (924.7K followers). You show a different side of yourself to your fans on that platform, why do you believe that’s important?
AJ: “I feel like that’s everything to me. Social media or not, I feel like I show who I am as person to everyone so they can connect with you more. A lot of these fans, they love football but they can’t relate to the practices or scoring touchdowns. Some of them have never done that. But they can relate to me dancing or me talking about my dog or just anything in life. I feel it’s good for the fans to be able to connect with me in that way.”