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Inside Jimmy Johns' 15-year journey to self-forgiveness and a degree from Alabama

Posted on 5/4/23 at 9:09 am
Posted by CapstoneGrad06
Little Rock
Member since Nov 2008
73315 posts
Posted on 5/4/23 at 9:09 am
Pretty good article about Johns’ journey. Really happy to see him turn his life around.

quote:

For 15 years, Jimmy Johns has been at this grind.

Working and studying. Leading and achieving. Mentoring and fathering, all with the purpose of feeling complete again. All to square this thing with one last holdout who could not forgive.

Sure, there was a practical purpose, also.

There were bills to pay and children to raise, and with a tenacity instilled in him by his late grandfather, Luther Thomas, Johns has been laser-focused on that for more than a decade now. Adulting has always come easy for Johns, and he didn't need a college degree for that. But on Friday, a contingent from Johns' hometown of Brookhaven, Mississippi, will cheer for him at the University of Alabama's commencement ceremony. At 35 years old, he will graduate from UA with a degree in consumer sciences, and there won't be a grad in the house with a greater sense of fulfillment than Jimmy Johns.


LINK
Posted by Che Boludo
Member since May 2009
21857 posts
Posted on 5/4/23 at 10:24 am to
Thanks for posting. Deserved it's own thread. Very glad to see him overcome his mistakes. Good for him
This post was edited on 5/4/23 at 10:29 am
Posted by Sebastian
Member since Jun 2015
3756 posts
Posted on 5/5/23 at 6:29 am to
Still cannot believe the guy was selling cocaine on campus as a freshman. I wonder if there was more to the story.
This post was edited on 5/5/23 at 6:30 am
Posted by CCTider
Member since Dec 2014
25104 posts
Posted on 5/10/23 at 11:19 am to
quote:

Still cannot believe the guy was selling cocaine on campus as a freshman. I wonder if there was more to the story.


Considering how much coke is used at UA, I'm not surprised a player was selling blow. But I am surprised it was a well known player. The only thing that shocked me was finding out how much coke is used at Bama, and I was raised in Central Florida in the last 90s/early 2000s.
Posted by Sebastian
Member since Jun 2015
3756 posts
Posted on 5/21/23 at 3:08 pm to
quote:

Considering how much coke is used at UA, I'm not surprised a player was selling blow. But I am surprised it was a well known player. The only thing that shocked me was finding out how much coke is used at Bama, and I was raised in Central Florida in the last 90s/early 2000s.
I was wondering like who was he getting it from, was someone pushing him to do this? Was he is need of money for his family? Obviously a big question is how could he be so stupid? I see he is a guest on a Bama football page on YouTube. I would hear his side of the story.
Posted by bamabenny
Member since Nov 2009
15449 posts
Posted on 5/21/23 at 6:58 pm to
JJ and DJ selling back in the mid-2000s was the worst kept secret on campus
Posted by Herman Frisco
Bon Secour
Member since Sep 2008
17733 posts
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:24 pm to
I knew people who sold it to pay for their use. And others because it made them important. And they both felt untouchable. Until they got busted.
This was back in the 70-80’s.
Posted by CaptainMorgan
Member since Oct 2007
1524 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 1:56 pm to
quote:

Still cannot believe the guy was selling cocaine on campus as a freshman. I wonder if there was more to the story.


quote:

I was wondering like who was he getting it from, was someone pushing him to do this?


He was a Junior, I think, when he was arrested in 2008. And if you were anywhere around Tuscaloosa at the time, it was pretty easy to believe.

You don’t just start out hustling blow and ecstasy either. I’m guessing to an extent here, but it’s not a huge leap to assume he was familiar with marijuana distribution at a younger age and upped his game when he got to Tuscaloosa. There’s a lot more profit and less trouble (logistically speaking) in cocaine/Molly than weed. He was playing to the market on campus (and it’s a big one), that’s all.

He was pretty open about it after his arrest, but he claimed he kept it from his teammates. I didn’t really buy it at the time though. The guy was from nowhere MS. Most of his associates/friends were players and he got arrested with less than 1/2 ounce of coke, so he wasn’t holding a lot of weight. He was getting fronted. Somebody (likely another player) introduced him to a situation and he made the decision to make some easy cash. It was dumb, but the dumbest thing he did was being as nonchalant about it as he was, which is ultimately what got him caught.

Anyway, it’s crazy to realize that was 15 years ago. I remember thinking how much wasted talent, time, and life that would cost him, but he’s clearly made the best of his time since then. It’s very cool to see him finishing his degree in Tuscaloosa. It’s also nice to know we can think “Jimmy came back and graduated” when we hear his name now, rather than immediately remembering his prior transgressions.
Posted by UASports23
Basketball School
Member since Nov 2009
26106 posts
Posted on 7/1/23 at 10:19 pm to
quote:

I wonder if there was more to the story.


That Vespa he drove was dope.
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