Immokalee native overcomes challenges to reach NFL's biggest stage

IMMOKALEE, Fla. — D'Ernest Johnson's journey to the New England Patriots wasn't easy, but his determination and faith helped him overcome every obstacle along the way.

It was never a question for Johnson that he wanted to play football. His NFL dreams started early, and his mother said that as toddlers, Johnson and his brother would play catch with fruit because that's all they had.

"I used to be like, where's all the fruits at? I went and checked up under the beds. And there they were, all of them laying around, oranges, apples, grapefruit. And they were tossing them," Erelisha Bell said.

Click here to see Immokalee Community Correspondent Victoria Quevdo speak with D'Ernest Johnson:

Johnson said being from Immokalee shaped him into who he is as a person and an athlete.

"It just taught me what, what hard work is, you know, just growing up Immokalee you know, it wasn't much you can do, do that you feel me....all we had was just football," Johnson said.

When Johnson made it to high school, he got a tattoo on his arm to remind him of his goals.

"I got the dream catcher in high school, you know, high school, I got the dream catcher, and I put in the middle of the dream catcher had an NFL logo in the middle of it, and it had God, family and football," Johnson said.

Johnson went to the University of South Florida, but the journey to make it to the pros wasn't easy. The 2018 draft day came without Johnson's name being called.

"Seeing the time when he didn't get drafted, seeing the disappointment in his face, it nearly broke all of us but God, but God, the strength of God. He grabbed hope to it, and it didn't stop there. He kept going," Bell said.

Despite all his challenges and bouncing around to now three teams, Johnson finally found his home with the New England Patriots as a running back. And now he's preparing for the big game on Sunday.

"Whatever your dream is, just continue to trace it like, no matter how hard it looks at in the beginning, like no matter how hard you think it is. Just keep pushing and keep going, and just keep believing yourself, and keep trusting God," Johnson said.

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