Rams’ Van Jefferson leaves Super Bowl celebration after wife goes into labor
"It was a great day, bro," Jefferson said on Instagram Live. "I got three prizes today. My wife, my son and the Super Bowl."
Wide receiver Van Jefferson got surprising news just after his team, the Los Angeles Rams, clinched their Super Bowl win last night: His wife, Samaria, who was 40 weeks pregnant, went into labor during the game.
She was taken out of the big game on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital, as confirmed by NFL Network reporter Bridget Condon. After his team’s Super Bowl win was in the books, Jefferson was informed, and he’s later seen on video from NFL Game Day rushing out of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
“It was a great day, bro. I got three prizes today. My wife, my son and the Super Bowl,” Jefferson said on Instagram Live, according to NFL.com. The report notes that Samaria told her husband’s team she did not want him told during the game if she happened to go into labor.
“He is going to play. He is going to keep playing,” she said before the game, via The Athletic. “I said, ‘You play, I’ll see you at the hospital afterwards.’ That’s what it is. I will never take that moment away from him. I want to see him glorify God on the field that day. … Knowing Van and how he is so caring, he just worries so much about me and the kids. … If I did tell him or someone told him during the game, he would come off that field. We’re saying, ‘Hey, you go play. We’ll see you after.'”
Jefferson made four catches and gained 23 yards during Sunday’s game.
The couple has a 5-year-old daughter, Bella, and has not announced the name of their newborn son.
Jefferson is the son of Shawn Jefferson, who played 13 seasons in the NFL and is currently the wide receivers coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Jefferson’s father was at the game with Bella, and the three departed for the hospital after the Rams’ win.
Jefferson wasn’t the only member of the Rams with life-changing news on Sunday: Rams safety Taylor Rapp proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Dani Johnson, on the field after the game.
TheGrio is now on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!
