Super Bowl Champ Defensive Lineman Jarvis Green Talks about Bonding with his Family at the Holidays

Two-time Super Bowl champ Jarvis Green just got back from a fieldtrip to a reindeer farm in Parker, Colorado with his five-year-old daughter Toi – it was his first fieldtrip with any of his kids and he was happy!

“She’s been asking me to go on one of her fieldtrips her whole life,” LSU alum Green tells Family First.

As a free agent in the NFL, Green is taking time off from football and spending as much time as possible with his kids to “do all the things I couldn’t do with my dad,” he says. That’s especially important to Green now that it’s the holidays because he does them up right.

Childhood Traditions

Raised in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, he has a twin brother, older twin siblings and an older brother.  They grew up in a rural area with lots of animals.

His family traditions as a kid included cooking – “There was always something on the stove cooking,” he remembers. In particular, he remembers chocolate chip cookies and his mother’s apple crunch. “She knew we loved it so she would make two because we would kill the first one.”

As a kid, their family switched off going to Grandma’s house next door where everyone sat at the big dining room table or at his parent’s house “wherever we could sit, we just ate.”  They used the special dishes and the china for dinner.

He remembers his “city” cousins coming from Pennsylvania for the holidays and they would josh him about being a “country boy.” Turns out, the cousins lived in the country too – in Pennsylvania – Green thinks that’s funny now. “They were country like us.”

Green with his kids - Terrence, Toi and JaNya

Traditions Now

He remembers as a kid, their Christmas tree was sometimes real, sometimes fake. Now that he’s in charge, he gets a real tree every year.  This year, he put up the tree on November 28^th – a 9-footer and he says they’re “still working on it. It’s not finalized yet.”

His family, including his wife Rakia and three kids – Terrence, age 12, JaNya age 7, and Toi, make their New Year’s resolutions early, at the Thanksgiving dinner table. They also pray together and talk about why they are thankful.

Favorite Holiday Foods

His favorite dish at the holidays is his wife’s macaroni and cheese, which she makes with four different kinds of cheese. He said she’s going to try a fancy truffle version for Christmas – he’s already looking forward to that.

They usually do ham or roast for holiday dinners because they get sick of turkey so quickly. He said this year, after 5 or 6 years of being turkey-free, they cooked one. His wife made turkey soup two days after Thanksgiving because they were already tired of it. “We’re not doing one next year,” he declares.

Asked about funny or interesting family traditions, he said he remembers his grandmother throwing out a bucket of water to start the new year. (Judge Alex mentioned this same tradition in his interview with Family First). They also make black eyed peas, with rice and a ham hock, known in some places as Hoppin’ John, for good luck in the new year.

Green says he’s trying to establish traditions with his family now that they didn’t have when he was a kid. They decorate the house like crazy – candy canes, wreaths and lights. “The house is beautiful with all the Christmas colors,” he says.

Favorite Thing about the Holidays

His favorite part of the holidays now is bonding as a family. They play games together like Sorry and checkers on their Family Nights together. He says he loves it when they all sit on the couch, “shoulder to shoulder and fall asleep.”

He makes it a special point to tell his kids he loves them because his parent’s generation was different; that wasn’t as common for him as a kid. He wants his kids to have a different experience and know how much he loves them.

Jarvis Green Foundation

Green has been showing his thankfulness and philanthropic support since 2006 when he started the Jarvis Green Foundation to help disadvantaged single mothers. The foundation helps with whatever single moms need like rent, tuition to go to school, finding classes on money management, help with utility bills, etc.

He started the foundation after Hurricane Katrina so he could help. He saw a need to help people and make people smile. He still remembers his first recipient Michelle Jefferson who appeared with him on the Montel Williams show.

“Single moms are doing their best. It should be easier for them,” he says.

The fourth annual wine tasting charity event will take place on March 19, 2011 at the Johnson & Wales Inn in Seekonk, Massachussetts. For more information on this event, please check out the Jarvis Green Foundation Facebook page.

Photos courtesy of Be There for Your Kids Campaign, Ellen Jaskol Photography