At just 6 years old, Jonah Coleman saw his father lying outside their Stockton apartment complex.
Jamon had been shot in the groin, back and head. They were bullets Nos. 12, 13 and 14 from his life as a gang member.
The first 11 were out of Jonah’s sight. These three weren’t.
His body shook uncontrollably as he cried.
And as Jamon bled, he looked his son in the eyes and left him with three words to live by.
"Don’t become me."
On Sunday, Oct. 4, Jonah comes home having kept that promise.
A high ankle sprain suffered Sept. 13 in a 20-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars — the same game he scored his first NFL touchdown and rushed for 39 yards on 10 carries — means the Denver Broncos rookie running back won’t get the chance to take the field against the San
Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium.
But his homecoming was never going to be measured by carries or touchdowns.
“I don’t cry, but I cried when he scored his first touchdown,” Jamon said. “For all that he’s done, everything he’s been through, he’s here. He’s an inspiration. He shows you can make it out. I’m not going to lie, I’ll cry again seeing him back here in our own backyard.”
Elevate209 owner and Jonah’s trainer Vince Carter added, “This just shows you can do it from Stockton. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what you go through or how many times you fall. You get back up. Jonah Coleman is living proof of that.”
'I’m Jonah Coleman'
It wasn’t long before Jonah found something else outside that same apartment complex.
A group of older kids playing football.
But with what Jamon described as ADHD and an energy that rarely allowed him to sit still, Jonah could only watch for so long.
Eventually, he worked up the courage to join them.
Before long, football had him hooked.
While staying with his mom, Marcella Johnson, he walked over to Stribley Park hoping to join the Eastside Yellow Jackets.
There was just one problem. He hadn’t signed up.
“One of the coaches stopped him and said, ‘Wait a minute, who are you?’” Jamon said. “Jonah said, ‘I’m Jonah Coleman, and I’m new to this team.’ And the coach said, ‘Well, we don’t have you on the roster.’ But after talking with him and seeing him play, they quickly figured out who he was and who he’d become.”
That wouldn’t be the last opportunity Jonah went after.
Carter had seen what he called “God-given talent” from the time he met Jonah at 10 years old.
Then one day, his phone rang.
On the other end, Jonah was begging for a ride to the Under The Radar Straight Baller Camp, an elite, invite-only showcase for top seventh- and eighth-grade football players.
It worked.
The two headed to Los Angeles, where Carter watched Jonah "put on a show."
“A coach told the group, ‘Out of you 50 kids, maybe five or six will make it to the NFL,’” Jamon said. “Jonah stood up and asked, ‘Well, how do I become one of those six?’”
Mere hours after getting back, he told Carter he was going to put in a three-a-day Monday.
“I remember telling myself, ‘I’m going to be a better trainer because of him,’” Carter said. “He inspired me. He works tirelessly. I always bring that up to Jonah. I’m like, ‘Bro, you’re one of the guys who helped me become who I am.’”
'Shark tasted blood'
By the time high school arrived, Jonah was at St. Mary’s, a private school in Stockton.
Yet somehow, he found himself on the freshman team.
"Dad, this is way too easy for me," Jonah said. "Every time I touch the football, I score a touchdown."
Just as he had before, he tried using his voice to create another opportunity.
This time, the answer was no. He asked to be bumped up to JV but was told he would remain on the freshman team.
As time would show, it was never really Jonah’s voice opening doors. It was what he did with a football.
So, he went looking for somewhere else to prove it.
All it took was an Instagram post.
“I had about 25 calls that day, and my boss was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Jamon said. “No one was following the rules. I had schools from our county, Sacramento County and even some in Southern California calling. It was crazy. He hadn’t even played in a game yet.”
Of all those calls, one school did things the right way.
Lincoln, a public school across town and one of St. Mary’s rivals.
After talking with then-coach Anthony Martinez, Jonah enrolled and prepared to join the JV team in 2018.
“I watched some YouTube clips from his youth football career and some seven-on-seven, and I instantly knew,” Martinez said. “I knew this kid was going to be special on the field. What I didn’t know was his personality or maturity level. Within the first week of practice, I had my answer. I knew he could immediately make an impact at the varsity level.”
There was just one problem.
Because of his age, Jonah had to play his first game on JV.
He “absolutely dominated,” Martinez said.
That was enough.
Over the remaining nine games, Jonah rushed for 545 yards on 77 carries, added 298 receiving yards and scored 12 touchdowns on his way to first-team All-TCAL honors.
“Everybody was confused,” Carter said. “Once he got his shot, it was over. It was like a shark tasted blood. He knew, and we knew. Then his sophomore year came, and boy, oh boy, he turned into a different beast.”
'I’m from Stockton'
As the kickoff team took the field for the 2019 season opener against Granada, Jonah tapped Martinez on the shoulder and looked him in the eye.
“Coach, give me the ball on the first play.”
Martinez said the look went through his soul. There was no way he could say no.
On the first play, the protection broke down.
Jonah took it 80 yards for a touchdown anyway.
“Most people don’t know this, but Jonah wasn’t always happy about the number of carries he was getting,” Martinez said. “Eventually, he started to understand where I was coming from. He didn’t get many carries in the third and fourth quarters. All of those stats were coming in the first couple quarters.”
Again, his voice was one thing. What he did with the football spoke louder.
In his sophomore season, he rushed for 1,587 yards on 143 carries, added 324 receiving yards and scored 35 total touchdowns.
Those numbers earned him TCAL MVP honors and the 2020 Best of the Record Preps Football Player of the Year award, announced on television by future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees.
“I was shocked, honestly,” Jamon said. “I was like, ‘Damn, my son really has a chance.’ And all he was thinking was, ‘I got to work harder. I can do better.’”
NCAA Division I offers followed. COVID-19 did, too.
Perhaps more telling, though, was the interest from Trinity League powerhouses in Southern California and prep schools across the country.
His family talked through the options. Martinez and Carter offered their advice.
The answer, though, never changed.
“I’m from Stockton, California,” Jonah told them. “So when I leave here to play in college and when I make the pros, I’m leaving out of Stockton, California. I don’t want anything attached to my name but that.”
He meant it.
Despite Arizona going 1-11 in 2021, he stayed signed. After rushing for 1,243 yards and 10 touchdowns over his first two years, he followed coach Jedd Fisch to the University of Washington in 2024.
A year later, 1,053 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns weren't enough to pull him toward the NFL draft. He came back for his senior season and rushed for 758 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Sure, the NFL was the destination, but Coleman wants his story to mean more than becoming the 108th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2026 draft.
“He wanted to show people that Stockton isn’t what everyone makes it out to be,” Martinez said. “He wanted to be a role model for the kids around here. Loyalty meant everything to him. Even not declaring for the draft early was part of that. He wanted to show the kids back in Stockton that getting a college education is important. That’s why he finished it out. He’s an inspiration. He’s proof that you can do whatever you set your mind to.”
He stayed loyal. He dealt with adversity. And eventually, he made it out.
Just look toward the Broncos sideline at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.
“Ray Lewis told him at that eighth-grade camp that the kid who makes it is the kid who keeps his head in the books, stays away from the negativity and does what other kids his age aren’t willing to do,” Jamon said. “Wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning and work out while everybody else is sleeping. Spend the middle of summer running with a 15- to 20-pound weight vest, his helmet on and a football in his hand while everybody else is at pool parties and barbecues. That’s exactly what Jonah did.
"Now, he wants the next kid from Stockton to know they can, too.”
This article originally appeared on The Record: Denver Broncos rookie Jonah Coleman turns father's warning into NFL dream
