Vikings Player Makes Marvelous Return

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports.

A Vikings player is making a marvelous return to football after being shot multiple times last year.

Jaylen Twyman is returning.

Thankfully, he has recovered from being shot multiple times in 2021. It is wonderful news that we should appreciate. His life could have ended before it ever truly began.

Sometimes we fans forget that players are humans. We talk about them as an asset to the team. How will the team utilize this particular player? And so forth. However, we don’t talk about them as humans as much as we should.

The news of Jaylen’s return broke around the time it was announced Dwayne Haskins had passed away. Haskins was involved in a car accident in Florida and unfortunately passed away. While it’s easy to sit back and talk about his life as a football player, he was so much more.

Haskins was a human first. A friend, a son, and a husband. His loved ones and the football community will miss him.

Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Fortunately, we did not have to have this same conversation about Jaylen. It is a miracle that he survived this shooting incident. While we look forward to seeing this young man on the football field, let’s appreciate him as a human.

Who Is Jaylen Twyman Outside of Football?

Jaylen Twyman was born and raised in Washington D.C., specifically the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. This particular area of D.C. is violent, which impacted his family. His father served a prison sentence from 2006 to 2013 on drug distribution charges.

Furthermore, his uncle was the victim of a drive-by shooting in 2014, and his older brother was murdered in 2016. To say that this area of D.C. impacted Jaylen’s perception is an understatement. It seems that he has almost become immune to the violence.

Last year, Jaylen stated that his shooting resulted from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately, he has grown up in these circumstances. However, there is little that he can do about it.

Although, it would not be surprising to see him involved in community advocacy to reduce violent crime. Hopefully, he can use his NFL career and clout to save the lives of others in his community. It is a tall task for one man to reduce violent crime.

However, many NFL players utilize the resources the league has brought them to better their home times. If Jaylen does go this route, we, as fans, should do everything we can to support these efforts.

For now, let’s appreciate the fact that he is alive. We can also hope, as fans, that he can positively impact the Vikings. However, we must never forget that players are humans first and foremost.

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