Jeff Foreman with the Las Vegas Raiders
Wolfpack Alumni Jeff Foreman was all smiles at his NFL Draft Party and was thrilled when he got picked up by the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent. However, nobody was more excited than two little boys from Checotah, one being Foreman’s own nephew, Allan Ross, and Allen’s best bud, Jaxson Doss.
“Both these boys look up to Jeff so much,” Tracie Mathews said. “He has mentored them and been their hero during some really tough times.”
Mathews is a paraprofessional at Marshall Elementary and became Jaxson’s legal guardian after her mother, Sherrie Doss, passed away in April of last year. Doss had adopted her grandson Jaxson and had been raising him as her own before she lost her life to COVID-19. Then Jaxson had to come live with his Aunt Tracie.
“It was a very hard time for the whole family, but especially hard for a seven-yearold boy to try and comprehend the magnitude of our loss,” Mathews said. “That same summer Allan, his mom and his grandmother moved to Checotah. Allan’s mom suffers from a debilitating autoimmune disease so his grandma, Rhonda Foreman, had to become his primary caregiver. This is why I believe the boys had such a strong connection and bond. When they both joined the football team last summer, they became inseparable along with four other boys.”
The boys’ team, Checotah 1st and 2nd Grade Little League, went 10-0 for the season, but lost the championship game in the end.
“Of course the boys needed something or someone to believe in and Jeff stepped up to be that hero. The boys were sad when they lost their final game, but Jaxson was so stoked the whole season because Jeff mentored him and his nephew,” Mathews said. “I’m just grateful that in a time when these young boys needed something or someone to believe in, Jeff stepped up to be that hero.”
Jeff and his twin brother Jack both played sports since they were young boys their mom stated and they know the importance of role models. Jeff graduated from Arkansas State back in December and his brother Jack just graduated from Southwest Christian University on May 4 and is going to be a basketball coach.
“We were so grateful to be invited to Jeff’s party and see him get into the NFL because we know how great he is on the football field,” Mathews said. “But more importantly we know how great he is off the field and that’s the kind of hero we want our little boys to look up to every day.”
