Speaker 1: What's Good Command His Family? Brian Cope with Junior here,
Speaker 1: and this is the Next Man Up podcast We have
Speaker 1: a very special guest for you, Starting receiver Jahan Dotson.
Speaker 1: Jahan talks about his big catch that put us into
Speaker 1: overtime against the Eagles, and also being the pride of
Speaker 1: his hometown and how his hometown and his family have
Speaker 1: supported him to help him become the man that he is.
Speaker 1: All that and more, starting right now, this is the
Speaker 1: Next Man Up Podcasts.
Speaker 2: What's Good Command His Family?
Speaker 1: Brian Corple Junior here, and this is the Next Man
Speaker 1: Up Podcasts where we take a deeper look into your
Speaker 1: favorite Commanders players. It's not as much extra you knows,
Speaker 1: It's more about the man behind the hell.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: We got a very special guest today our third episode,
Speaker 1: Starting receiver Jahan Dotson.
Speaker 2: Joh how you doing today, brother.
Speaker 3: I'm good, I'm good. Appreciate you for having me.
Speaker 2: Man, Man, I appreciate you.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: We know you're busy.
Speaker 1: Man. We know you got a lot to get into
Speaker 1: and we got a lot to get into today. I
Speaker 1: want to start with the last game. You made a
Speaker 1: huge play, got the touchdown that send it into overtime.
Speaker 1: What was that, Like, talk about that moment, man, because
Speaker 1: that was that was a big play right there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a pretty big play. Man.
Speaker 4: It was kind of crazy how it happened because earlier
Speaker 4: in the game I had a drop, right, and I
Speaker 4: really pride myself on just catching the ball, like that's
Speaker 4: no more responsibility as a receiver. So like, I really
Speaker 4: I really feel it when I get when I have
Speaker 4: drops right, So I had to drop earlier in the game,
Speaker 4: I want to say, like the third quarter, and I
Speaker 4: didn't touch the ball ever since. And last player regulation man,
Speaker 4: Sam trusted me that I was going to make a play.
Speaker 3: Man, that's all I could.
Speaker 4: I was super thankful for the opportunity, man, and then
Speaker 4: having my family there, being back home like it it
Speaker 4: almost felt like the opportunity was it.
Speaker 3: Had to happen that way.
Speaker 4: So it was definitely a pretty cool moment just to
Speaker 4: have under under my belt in my career. Man, just
Speaker 4: to share that with all my close friends and family
Speaker 4: and attendance school.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you talk about your family being man, that's that's
Speaker 1: your home state. Does a game like that mean a
Speaker 1: little more to you? Now you're in your second year, right,
Speaker 1: so you've you've been to p a right to play.
Speaker 1: Does it mean a little more to you being able
Speaker 1: to play in front of your home fans?
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, just because I where I grew up.
Speaker 4: I'm only an hour from Philly, so I grew up
Speaker 4: in elementary school, middle school, high school. Just hearing a
Speaker 4: bunch of Eagles fans.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 4: So being back home, playing in the Eagle Stadium, being
Speaker 4: able to have those people come out support me and
Speaker 4: supporting their team, it was definitely a pretty cool dynamic.
Speaker 4: And just to have my family so close to home
Speaker 4: and be able to play in front of them.
Speaker 3: Man, that's all I ever dreamed though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, We're gonna talk a lot of football, but I
Speaker 1: really want to talk to you about home right Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: Nazareth Area High School. Talk about that growing up then,
Speaker 1: what that did for you as a man?
Speaker 4: Yeah, the sixth one, oh, man, I wrap it hard, man, Like,
Speaker 4: not a lot of people come out come out of
Speaker 4: the sixth one.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 4: It was very small, close knit community. Like I said,
Speaker 4: not a lot of people make it to where I'm
Speaker 4: at today. So for me to the biggest thing for
Speaker 4: me is to give back to kids in that community,
Speaker 4: to show them that, like coming from such a small community,
Speaker 4: you can make it to this big stage, you know
Speaker 4: you This guy's really the limit for for anyone. Uh So,
Speaker 4: any chance I get to I get to go back,
Speaker 4: go see my high school play, go throw camps in
Speaker 4: the summer, see the little kids around the area. Uh,
Speaker 4: any chance possible, Because I truly I love where I'm from,
Speaker 4: like I truly rep that, I rep it hard man,
Speaker 4: like I truly love it, especially Nazareth.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 4: It's such a small town, but the support they give
Speaker 4: me is is truly unmatched.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: It's truly I've never had anything like. It's close to
Speaker 4: my family. They're literally my family. So it is so
Speaker 4: cool just having having to wear Nazareth on my back
Speaker 4: every single day I step out on the field and
Speaker 4: what I do in life.
Speaker 3: It is so it's a really cool thing.
Speaker 2: And you're definitely the pride of Nazareth. Man. As much
Speaker 2: as you pour into your city, it seems like they
Speaker 2: pour into you.
Speaker 1: Like you said, and I heard that your third game
Speaker 1: of your rookie year, you had about three hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty people. They took like six buses to come check
Speaker 1: you out, to come watch play. They had the Jahan
Speaker 1: shirts on and everything that your family was there. What
Speaker 1: did that mean to you? Big moment like that, and
Speaker 1: just having your whole community, your whole city come and
Speaker 1: support you like that.
Speaker 4: Man, that was huge, and it was crazy how it
Speaker 4: led up to it, because it was it was the
Speaker 4: first my mom came to me and she said, you know,
Speaker 4: like the high school is talking about throwing this thing
Speaker 4: where they're gonna come to one of your games, probably
Speaker 4: when you play the Eagles. I'm thinking, all right, yeah, cool,
Speaker 4: Like play the Eagles in Philly. It's not not a
Speaker 4: far bus drive people would get up to get up
Speaker 4: to the game. I'm thinking, I'm not even thinking busses
Speaker 4: at this point. I'm thinking people go to carpool and
Speaker 4: stuff like that. And then she's like, no, they're gonna
Speaker 4: come out to Washington and they're gonna load buses at
Speaker 4: the high school and everyone's gonna come see you play.
Speaker 4: And I'm like, man, like that that's so cool, Man Like,
Speaker 4: that's everything.
Speaker 3: You dream of having.
Speaker 4: My high school coaches, basketball, literal league coaches, little kids
Speaker 4: from the area, parents, people you never you never even
Speaker 4: interacted with, but they just support you on a different level.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 4: It was it was such an amazing opportunity for me
Speaker 4: and as such, an amazing moment just to have under
Speaker 4: my belt.
Speaker 3: And honestly, I'm super thankful for the community.
Speaker 1: Well, I think you earned that right because if you
Speaker 1: want somebody that poured back into your community, like we
Speaker 1: talked about earlier, I don't think you would have got
Speaker 1: that kind of support. And you mentioned the camps you hold.
Speaker 1: Why is it so important to do that for the
Speaker 1: youth from your city And did you get things like
Speaker 1: that growing up for yourself, Like did you have NFL
Speaker 1: players come down or pro athletes come down and kind
Speaker 1: of show you like, hey, this would be what you
Speaker 1: can do if you work hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: See, I didn't have those opportunities when I was a kid,
Speaker 4: and I feel like that's that's one of the reasons
Speaker 4: why I do it, just to give those kids an
Speaker 4: opportunity to interact with someone who's doing it at this level,
Speaker 4: doing it at the biggest level of something they want
Speaker 4: to achieve. And and me as a kid, you know,
Speaker 4: I didn't, I mean me right now, like I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't really When I go back home, it just
Speaker 4: feels like home. I feel like I'm at home. I
Speaker 4: don't really feel like, oh, you're You're in the NFL,
Speaker 4: you know, And I kind of just treat it like
Speaker 4: I'm still in high school time. And sometimes I gotta
Speaker 4: my friends got to remind me, bro, You're like, you're
Speaker 4: in the NFL. Bro, Like you need to use your platform.
Speaker 4: I just be thinking, you know, I'm still this kid
Speaker 4: from Nazareth. Yeah, but it's so cool just going back
Speaker 4: and being able to give give back to to all
Speaker 4: the people and all the families that supported me coming up.
Speaker 4: So every opportunity I get, man, I'm trying to support,
Speaker 4: trying to pour my heart into the people who do
Speaker 4: the same for me.
Speaker 1: Man, that's awesome. You talk about the people that do
Speaker 1: so much for you. Talk about your parents a little bit.
Speaker 1: Parents are very involved in your life. You're very close
Speaker 1: with them. What has it been having a mother and
Speaker 1: father that are so supportive and so involved.
Speaker 2: What has that done for you as a man?
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, I don't take it for granted.
Speaker 4: At all, honestly, because you know, I'm very fortunate to
Speaker 4: have two parents in my life who are very stable,
Speaker 4: who can who provide for me, take care of me,
Speaker 4: and show me, show me how to how to be
Speaker 4: a man in this life. You know, not everyone gets
Speaker 4: the opportunity, So I'm truly thankful for that, man. And
Speaker 4: they've done everything possible to make sure that I'm in
Speaker 4: the best situation, possible, best predicaments to be successful in life.
Speaker 3: Man. And that's all you can thank your parents. They've
Speaker 3: done everything. Man. My parents are literally my rock. Man.
Speaker 4: They've done everything for me. They still do everything for
Speaker 4: me to this day. Man, But they've they've taught me
Speaker 4: how to just just grow up and be a man,
Speaker 4: and they gave me unconditional support ever since I was
Speaker 4: a little kid.
Speaker 2: And much like myself, you have self proclaim Momas what
Speaker 2: right for sure?
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, you and your mom are very very close,
Speaker 1: which I think is just so cool. And your sophomore
Speaker 1: year over at Penn State, you know, life change for
Speaker 1: all of you guys.
Speaker 2: You talk about that a little bit and what went down.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So I always tell people, man, like growing up you
Speaker 4: feel like your parents are invincible. Yeah, like nothing could
Speaker 4: ever happen to them Because you grow up them taking
Speaker 4: care of you. You don't really see the struggles that
Speaker 4: they go through in life till you grow up.
Speaker 3: And I always kind of getting to that age.
Speaker 4: I think I was nineteen twenty and that was the
Speaker 4: first kind of adversity that ever hit in my family
Speaker 4: where my mom was battling cancer. And it was really
Speaker 4: hard in my family, just because, like I said, my
Speaker 4: parents are my rock man.
Speaker 3: Like they did everything for me. They do everything for me.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it was really tough.
Speaker 4: But you know, just like she had my back and
Speaker 4: supported me all throughout my life, I had to do
Speaker 4: the same for her. It was time for me to
Speaker 4: return the favor, and you know, I tried to support
Speaker 4: her in any way possible. To this day, man, I'm
Speaker 4: still trying to make sure she's good, always checking up
Speaker 4: on her, text me every morning, good morning, have a
Speaker 4: great day, Love you, and it it's the little things
Speaker 4: like that that you know, you don't you don't really
Speaker 4: realize the impact that it can make on someone. But
Speaker 4: my mom she looks forward to those things, making sure
Speaker 4: that I do the little things to really make sure
Speaker 4: that I'm always thinking about her and make sure that
Speaker 4: she's good.
Speaker 1: You talk about not really getting to see your parents
Speaker 1: like struggle as a kid, right, They try to protect
Speaker 1: us from it. They try to hide the things they
Speaker 1: are going through. But as a man, as a sophomore.
Speaker 1: You're a grown man, so you're actually getting to see
Speaker 1: your mother go through this battle, fight get through it.
Speaker 2: How did that change your outlook?
Speaker 1: Not only as an athlete, but just as a human
Speaker 1: being watching your mother go through that battle and succeed.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, cancer is never it's never anything to
Speaker 4: play with, you know. So like going in knowing that
Speaker 4: she's going through that and the struggles that she's having
Speaker 4: and the battles that she's going through internally, like within herself,
Speaker 4: you know, it makes you just put her perspective on
Speaker 4: everything that you're doing. It makes you makes me want
Speaker 4: to go twenty times harder just because I know that,
Speaker 4: you know, nothing that I'm doing is can co relate
Speaker 4: to anything that she's going through, you know. So it
Speaker 4: truly makes me have an appreciation for everything that I
Speaker 4: get to experience and I get to go through, and
Speaker 4: knowing that my mom was supporting me even though she's
Speaker 4: going through those things, I know that I can do
Speaker 4: whatever I'm doing.
Speaker 3: And support her going through what she was going through.
Speaker 4: So it was really big for me to just see
Speaker 4: her prevail through through cancer and basically beat it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And in last episode, I got to talk to
Speaker 1: Jeremy Reeves and he went through, you know, losing his mother, and.
Speaker 2: He mentioned how he never really growing up.
Speaker 1: Especially as you know he's a football player, big football player,
Speaker 1: he never really felt that he could express himself or
Speaker 1: deal with emotions. And then in that time he kind
Speaker 1: of just let it all out. Did you feel you
Speaker 1: were able to deal with all those things went on yet?
Speaker 1: Penn State, You're sophomore, you're trying to make it to
Speaker 1: the league, You're doing all these things while watching your
Speaker 1: mom go through that. What was it dealing with those emotions?
Speaker 1: Were you able to really grieve and deal with those things?
Speaker 3: Yeah? And I would say that was a credit. Uh.
Speaker 4: You know my closest friends, my friend Mahoni's been my
Speaker 4: best friend since fifth grade and he's he's literally like
Speaker 4: my brother. And he was someone who really helped me
Speaker 4: through that process. Uh, someone who I could talk to
Speaker 4: literally about anything. I didn't have a problem expressing my
Speaker 4: emotions to him, because you know, as a man, that
Speaker 4: is that is hard.
Speaker 3: You gotta you gotta go through that in life.
Speaker 4: It's something that you have to you kind of have
Speaker 4: to grow into expressing yourself, expressing your emotions. And you
Speaker 4: got to really realize that there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 4: And and he he really helped me out through that
Speaker 4: process and helped me realize that, you know, I can
Speaker 4: express myself and He's gonna have my back no matter what.
Speaker 1: That's cool, man. And it seems like you're also a
Speaker 1: very like faith driven person. I see every Sunday taking me.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming you're praying. What are those conversations with God
Speaker 1: like when you're sitting there in that moment you've made
Speaker 1: it here?
Speaker 3: Man? Like?
Speaker 2: What are those moments like?
Speaker 3: Man? I just I started off by thanking him. Man.
Speaker 4: I couldn't have I couldn't be here without him. I
Speaker 4: couldn't have done anything I done in life without him truly.
Speaker 4: And then you know, I just give a quick little
Speaker 4: prayer to my mom, my grandma who's watching me. I
Speaker 4: thank God for taking care of her. I know he's
Speaker 4: He's taking care of my grandmother. We all love and
Speaker 4: miss her so much. And then I pray again, I
Speaker 4: thank Him for just just letting me be out here
Speaker 4: and doing what I love every single day, being able
Speaker 4: to have the dream job that I've always dreamed of.
Speaker 4: And I pray that he stayed on my shoulders. And
Speaker 4: allow me to do some spectacular things on the field.
Speaker 1: Well, man, we've seen some spectacular things from you. Man,
Speaker 1: you had a really good rookie year. But now it's
Speaker 1: year too. You're not a rookie no more. What's different
Speaker 1: about this season? You've gone through a second preseason, now
Speaker 1: you're going through a second training camp.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: What's different in year two for Johanna Dotson?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say just becoming more wise wise with
Speaker 4: the game, having more wisdom in the game, and really
Speaker 4: understanding the NFL because it is way different from college.
Speaker 4: You know, you're playing professionals every single weekend, every single
Speaker 4: day of practice, so so really understanding the game, become
Speaker 4: more wiser with the game. And I pride myself on
Speaker 4: being better than I was yesterday. That's a big thing
Speaker 4: for me. I never try to get to down on
Speaker 4: myself and that that goes back to the game, man,
Speaker 4: the drop and making sure that the next play is
Speaker 4: better than it was his last play. So it's a
Speaker 4: big thing that I look I look forwarded to myself.
Speaker 4: But yeah, it's been a it's been a fun ride.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: It's been really cool.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: It's it's everything I dreamed of as a little kid.
Speaker 4: So so I'm really thankful for this opportunity.
Speaker 1: And not everybody in your position gets to line up
Speaker 1: across from such an elite talent like Terry. And you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you guys have a good relationship. We see
Speaker 1: you guys talking a lot on that field. What are
Speaker 1: those conversations like with Terry? How has he helped you
Speaker 1: become more comfortable as a receiver in the NFL?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like Terry is is really like me.
Speaker 4: He's really a laid back guy, doesn't say much, but
Speaker 4: he's more of a vocal me. So it's pretty cool
Speaker 4: to have that dynamic just because he knows how to hem.
Speaker 3: I'm still the biggest thing I'm learning from Terry is
Speaker 3: how to be a leader. Man.
Speaker 4: He does such a great job at that because he's
Speaker 4: way more vocal. So you know, he tells me what
Speaker 4: he's seeing on the field. He knows how to communicate
Speaker 4: those things to me. He shows me the looks that
Speaker 4: you know we're getting from different defenses and how to
Speaker 4: beat them because you know, he's done it at the
Speaker 4: highest level.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 4: So it's really cool having that dynamic in my room
Speaker 4: right next to me every single day and learning from
Speaker 4: him has been great.
Speaker 1: It's been fun watching you guys plays before, watching you develop.
Speaker 1: And it's crazy to think in week five, almost a
Speaker 1: quarter of away through the season, do you feel Commanders
Speaker 1: fans have really seen this team's full potential yet?
Speaker 3: I don't. I truly don't.
Speaker 4: I think we can still on lead so much more
Speaker 4: because we just have so much talent, man, And I
Speaker 4: feel like Scott's really a limit for this team. I
Speaker 4: feel like we haven't really tapped into it fully yet.
Speaker 4: We're still in that understanding of the offense phase. But
Speaker 4: we're making plays, so it's exciting little flashes. But I
Speaker 4: feel like once we put it all together, man, it's
Speaker 4: gonna be crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, man. You could tell it's just different, right.
Speaker 1: You could see the fan base is very, very excited
Speaker 1: for this season. And Thursday we had a game. It's
Speaker 1: prime time. We're back at the crib, we're back at home.
Speaker 1: This is your ICEOL camera right there. You're looking at
Speaker 1: camera right there, and tell the fans what you need
Speaker 1: from them Thursday to help y'all get this dub against
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 4: Man. I need y'all out there, man, I need y'all
Speaker 4: packed out there and FedEx man.
Speaker 3: I need y'all loud, proud. It's gonna be.
Speaker 4: A fun one man. We go get back on this
Speaker 4: win streak, but it's gonna be fun. And I need
Speaker 4: y'all have y'all there.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir man, Well, Joha Man. I appreciate your time. Man,
Speaker 1: it's been fun getting to know you. It's been fun
Speaker 1: watch you develop as a receiver. Commander's Family is in
Speaker 1: the Next Man Up podcasts. Brianko Junior here with our
Speaker 1: starting receiver Jahan Dasa JOHNI BROTHERI sir.
Speaker 2: What's good? Commander's Family? You love this podcast? When we
Speaker 2: have plenty more for you.
Speaker 1: We have the Command Center podcast with Logan Paulson, Santana
Speaker 1: Moss and Fred Smooth. They're giving you all things commands,
Speaker 1: they're breaking down games and they're previewing matchups.
Speaker 2: You don't want to miss that.
Speaker 1: We have to Get Loud podcasts Michael Jenkins and Fred
Speaker 1: Smooth where we let Fred do where he does best.
Speaker 1: Get Loud, very very fun and entertaining podcast for you there.
Speaker 1: And then we have the players Cuple London, Flusher and
Speaker 1: Santana Moss where they're having conversations that only players who
Speaker 1: played the game. Can You can get all of that
Speaker 1: and more if you subscribe and like you will never
Speaker 1: miss an episode and we have so much more for you.
Speaker 2: Stay tuned.