It’s been a long road for Javon Kinlaw.
The New York Jets defensive tackle recently discussed his journey thus far, fighting back tears while reflecting on how he’s made it from homelessness to the NFL.
“I’ve been through a lot, you know,” Kinlaw said at a team press conference while wiping away tears. “That’s all I can really say, but I never gave up. A lot of people would’ve gave up. But I never gave up.”
The 26-year-old only signed with the Jets this offseason after spending his first four seasons in the league with the San Francisco 49ers.
The defensive lineman out of South Carolina was selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft (No. 14) with big expectations.
But prior to that Kinlaw had endured a difficult childhood that saw him immigrate to the United States in 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago with his single mother and three brothers.
Javon was just two years old when he made the cross-nation switch with his family. They initially settled in Washington, D.C. before moving to Mississippi then South Carolina.
“We had gas, a gas stove,” Kinlaw told ESPN about his time in the nation’s capital.
“We would light the stove with a little match or something, get a tall pot, boil the water, mix it with some cold water, put it in a bucket, take it upstairs, take a shower like that.”
However, the family struggled with homelessness and found ways to get by, by staying with friends of his mother, often in basements without necessities like electricity or running water.
In 2013, Kinlaw moved to Charleston to live with his father, George, where he enrolled at North Charleston High. There were struggles there too as his father was reportedly an alcoholic and got physical with him at times.
Jevon lived with friends for a while and eventually put all his energy into football which he had a natural proclivity for.
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As a 6ft 5in, 260lb sophomore, he played both offensive and defensive line, and earned an invite to the U.S. Army All-American game.
He eventually earned his GED certificate at Jones County Junior College in Mississippi and got an associate degree before transferring to South Carolina where he became one of the country’s best defensive linemen for the Gamecocks.
His daughter Eden was born in the summer of 2019 and a year later he was drafted by the Niners.
Current Jets head coach Robert Saleh was San Francisco’s defensive coordinator under Kyle Shanahan at the time and saw something special in the young defensive tackle.
“I love his mindset, I love his practice habits,” Saleh said of Kinlaw in 2021.
Kinlaw played one season under Saleh as a rookie and in 14 games (12 starts) had 33 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four passes defensed and returned an interception for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams.
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But over the next two years he was limited to just ten games because of injuries that landed him on injured reserve both seasons.
The now 330lb D-lineman didn’t get another sack until last season, when he had a career-best 3.5 while playing 17 games for the first time. He also racked up 25 total tackles to go along with three defended passes.
In March 2024 he signed a one-year contract with the Jets to beef up what could be the NFL’s No. 1 defense in 2024.
The fifth-year DT joins an already intimidating defensive unit with the likes of Jermaine Johnson II, Quinnen Williams, Solomon Thomas, Leki Fotu, Micheal Clemons and Will McDonald.
The Jets have the longest playoff drought (2010) among all four of the major sports in North America, but will hope to end that run this season with a healthy Aaron Rodgers under center and a loaded offense that includes NFL Offensive Player of the Year candidates Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall.
“I think I fit in very well,” Kinlaw said. “Just another power guy. I think I’m very explosive, as well. Just as as much as everybody else that’s on the D-line. I just can’t wait to get to battle with these guys.”
Kinlaw is now heading into his physical prime and feels ready to finally be the player he ‘knows he can be’.
“This year’s been my first time feeling like I can really be who I think I can be, who I know I can be,” he said.
“I feel amazing. I feel super explosive, I feel violent out there. I feel like I’m getting a lot of knockback, holding strong on double teams. That was my main thing this offseason, really work on sustaining on those double teams because I feel like I’m a big guy. Guys don’t really come off of me.”