It’s funny how so much of life is just about people seeing you or not. Growing up, and wanting to make it as a football player, I had all these people basically telling me I wasn’t anything special. Coming out of high school I only had two college offers. Going into the draft I waited almost 200 picks for my name to be called. So when I finally did get drafted, I think there’s a part of me that figured it’s about to be the same in the NFL: more people who just see right past me, or who see me as nothing worth investing in.

Then I became a Green Bay Packer.

I remember this one moment early on in camp my rookie season. The Packers had drafted three running backs in 2017, and the receivers started taking “bets” on which of us was going to come out on top. Obviously a lot of guys had Jamaal since he was drafted the highest. Then one day in camp, Davante walks up to me. He’s the No. 1 receiver, right? Fourth year and about to make a Pro Bowl. He’s the dude in that room — and he comes over to me on the sideline, I don’t even know why, and he says, “I got you as my dog in this race.” I can’t even tell you what that did for me, honestly. It was like, OK, Davante Adams believes in me?? It meant a lot.

I also remember the very first time I played an offensive snap — it was Week 4 at home against Chicago. Both our main running backs had gone down, so it’s only me and our fullback left. I run onto the field, and when I get into the huddle it’s crazy: A-Rod, he just looks at me and he says, “Hey. I am one of your biggest fans in this entire organization. It’s your time. Yours, right now.” I ended up scoring and we won that game.

The next few weeks, both main backs were still out and I played really well. Pretty soon they got healthy though and I went back to not being out there as much. In my head I’m thinking, I had a nice moment. Maybe it’s over. But then I’ll never forget there was this one drive, later in the season — and out of nowhere, A-Rod calls timeout, turns to the sideline and yells: “I WANT 33 IN THE GAME!!! I WANT 33 IN THE GAME!!! 33!!! NOW!!!” I’m standing there, I’m looking down at my jersey … and suddenly I’m like, Oh wait. I’m 33. That’s ME. I don’t even remember what the play was, or what happened on it, but I just know how good that felt. It was this reminder that I was there for a reason, you know what I mean? One of the best QBs who’s ever lived is actually seeing something in me.

It wasn’t just my teammates who made me feel seen in Green Bay — it was our fans, too. Especially in those first few years when I was trying to make my name in the league, I think people started to notice that good things would happen when I had the ball, and they wanted me to be more involved. So they started tweeting with the hashtag #FREEAARONJONES. I know it’s just a hashtag, but I won’t lie, that was cool. Every time I saw it in my mentions, it reassured me I wasn’t going unnoticed. Our fans understood how hard I was working to make things happen, and I fed off of that.

I’m also very grateful for the Packers organization, and the way they had faith in me as a person. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was as a rookie: I got cited for driving with marijuana in my system, and suspended by the league for the start of my second year. I was so embarrassed after it happened. They say you represent the G at all times, and I hadn’t held up my part of that. I felt like I’d let everyone down who gave me a chance as a fifth-round pick — and for a guy like me who wasn’t established yet, a lot of teams might’ve said “let’s just cut him.” It definitely could have gone either way … but the Packers had my back. Their mentality was, This mistake isn’t you. It’s only you if you don’t learn from it. They made sure I walked around our building with my head held high, even when I was feeling really low.

It’s funny how so much of life is just about people seeing you or not. Growing up, and wanting to make it as a football player, I had all these people basically telling me I wasn’t anything special. Coming out of high school I only had two college offers. Going into the draft I waited almost 200 picks for my name to be called. So when I finally did get drafted, I think there’s a part of me that figured it’s about to be the same in the NFL: more people who just see right past me, or who see me as nothing worth investing in.

Then I became a Green Bay Packer.

I remember this one moment early on in camp my rookie season. The Packers had drafted three running backs in 2017, and the receivers started taking “bets” on which of us was going to come out on top. Obviously a lot of guys had Jamaal since he was drafted the highest. Then one day in camp, Davante walks up to me. He’s the No. 1 receiver, right? Fourth year and about to make a Pro Bowl. He’s the dude in that room — and he comes over to me on the sideline, I don’t even know why, and he says, “I got you as my dog in this race.” I can’t even tell you what that did for me, honestly. It was like, OK, Davante Adams believes in me?? It meant a lot.

I also remember the very first time I played an offensive snap — it was Week 4 at home against Chicago. Both our main running backs had gone down, so it’s only me and our fullback left. I run onto the field, and when I get into the huddle it’s crazy: A-Rod, he just looks at me and he says, “Hey. I am one of your biggest fans in this entire organization. It’s your time. Yours, right now.” I ended up scoring and we won that game.

The next few weeks, both main backs were still out and I played really well. Pretty soon they got healthy though and I went back to not being out there as much. In my head I’m thinking, I had a nice moment. Maybe it’s over. But then I’ll never forget there was this one drive, later in the season — and out of nowhere, A-Rod calls timeout, turns to the sideline and yells: “I WANT 33 IN THE GAME!!! I WANT 33 IN THE GAME!!! 33!!! NOW!!!” I’m standing there, I’m looking down at my jersey … and suddenly I’m like, Oh wait. I’m 33. That’s ME. I don’t even remember what the play was, or what happened on it, but I just know how good that felt. It was this reminder that I was there for a reason, you know what I mean? One of the best QBs who’s ever lived is actually seeing something in me.

It wasn’t just my teammates who made me feel seen in Green Bay — it was our fans, too. Especially in those first few years when I was trying to make my name in the league, I think people started to notice that good things would happen when I had the ball, and they wanted me to be more involved. So they started tweeting with the hashtag #FREEAARONJONES. I know it’s just a hashtag, but I won’t lie, that was cool. Every time I saw it in my mentions, it reassured me I wasn’t going unnoticed. Our fans understood how hard I was working to make things happen, and I fed off of that.

I’m also very grateful for the Packers organization, and the way they had faith in me as a person. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was as a rookie: I got cited for driving with marijuana in my system, and suspended by the league for the start of my second year. I was so embarrassed after it happened. They say you represent the G at all times, and I hadn’t held up my part of that. I felt like I’d let everyone down who gave me a chance as a fifth-round pick — and for a guy like me who wasn’t established yet, a lot of teams might’ve said “let’s just cut him.” It definitely could have gone either way … but the Packers had my back. Their mentality was, This mistake isn’t you. It’s only you if you don’t learn from it. They made sure I walked around our building with my head held high, even when I was feeling really low.