Oh what a night for Van Jefferson!
The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver spent most of Sunday preparing for and playing in Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals, and at the end of four quarters, Jefferson and his teammates celebrated a world championship victory. However, there was no time for Jefferson to stick around after the football game for the festivities because his wife, Samaria, left in the middle of the game to have the couple’s second child!
NFL Network reporter Bridget Condon shared the news of Samaria exiting SoFi Stadium on a stretcher, “about to have their baby,” on Twitter at 5:48 p.m. PT. “Talk about dedication,” she wrote.
I'm pretty sure I just saw Van Jefferson's wife leaving the stadium on a stretcher about to have their baby. Talk about dedication.
— Bridget Condon (@BridgetCondon_) February 14, 2022
Earlier in the week, Samaria talked with The Athletic about the timing of being 40 weeks pregnant during Super Bowl Sunday.
“I’m excited about it,” she told The Athletic. “Excited to play in the Super Bowl as well. … Two things going on. I’m happy about both of them. Maybe he can wait just a little bit longer, until after the Super Bowl!”
The newest member of the Jefferson family must have wanted to get in on the Super Bowl excitement, because Samaria went into labor during the big game. However, the mom made her family and the Rams staff promise not to tell her husband if she went into labor during the game.
“He is going to play. He is going to keep playing,” she said to The Athletic. “I said, ‘You play, I’ll see you at the hospital afterward.’”
And once the dad got the news after the game, he took off from the stadium with his father and his 5-year-old daughter, Bella, who waited for him to finish the game.
ESPN’s GameDay shared a sweet video of Jefferson dashing out of the locker room area to rush to the hospital.
Van Jefferson hustling out of the stadium to get to his wife in labor #SBLVI pic.twitter.com/0GDW0ceWLf
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) February 14, 2022
Fortunately, he arrived at the hospital in time to witness the arrival of his second child. Around 9 p.m. local time, Jefferson posted a photo of him holding his newborn son on his Instagram story.
The photo was picked up by media outlets around the world and quickly went viral on social media as fellow players, friends and family congratulated the Jefferson family on two huge victories in one day.
Van Jefferson welcomes his newborn hours after winning the Super Bowl
(via van_j12/IG) pic.twitter.com/2M4bY0JELY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 14, 2022
Congratulations to the entire Jefferson family! A world championship and a new baby on the same day is most definitely a Super way to spend a Sunday!
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