Cowboys' Juanyeh Thomas gets emotional at 3 AM on how his son Ajah saved him from “destruction”

Modified Mar 26, 2025 17:35 GMT

NFL: DEC 29 Cowboys at Eagles - Source: Getty — Juanyeh Thomas shared a touching post for his son's first birthday. - Source: Getty

Dallas Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas shared a heartfelt post on his son Ajah's first birthday. Over the weekend, Thomas shared a carousel of photos in an Instagram post documenting Ajah's first year.

In the emotional caption, he shared that his experience of becoming a father has changed his life. He credited his son for saving his life from "destruction" and encouraging him to live a better life.

"𝐀 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲?…. 𝐒𝐨𝐧, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞," Thomas wrote. "𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 , 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 a 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐠𝐬 , 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

"𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐀𝐢𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐩, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟑𝐀𝐌 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥… 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨n. 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐁𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞☀️🎂💙…"

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Juanyeh Thomas and girlfriend Brandi Yvonne announced in November 2023 that they were expecting their first child. Ajah was born on March 24, 2024.

Juanyeh Thomas celebrated contract extension alongside mom Stephanie

Juanyeh Thomas has contributed significantly to the Dallas Cowboys' special teams unit. In Week 12 of the 2024 NFL season, Thomas returned an onside kick for a score, propelling the Cowboys to a 34-26 victory over the Washington Commanders.

The former undrafted free agent signed a one-year contract worth $1,030,000 on March 5 to stay with the Cowboys.

In a post on Instagram, Thomas shared photos of him signing his contract extension and celebrating with his mom, Stephanie. In the Instagram caption, he shared a sentimental poem about facing trials and tribulations.

"𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲," Thomas said. "𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩, 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."

Thomas also announced that he is changing his jersey number from #30 to #2, which was last worn by Jourdan Lewis.

About the author

Bethany Cohen is an NFL writer at Sportskeeda, with a rich prior 15-year experience in the sports writing industry, primarily covering the MLB and MiLB. She majored in Communications from the University of South Florida and has previously worked for top companies such as Examiner.com and Legends on Deck.

Bethany owes her NFL allegiance to the Pittsburgh Steelers owing to their long-standing tradition and competitiveness. She is a fan of old stalwarts such as Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris and would love to watch them in the 1970s if she manages to get her hand on a time machine. She also acknowledges the greatness of modern icons like T.J. Watt for his desire to continuously improve despite being on top. She admires coaches Mike Tomlin and Andy Reid for their longevity and success.

The ace reporter credits her knowledge and love for the sport to be her biggest reporting strengths. Prior fact-checking is a big component of her process and she always scours through additional sources to ensure complete accuracy in her content.

Super Bowl XLIII, when the Steelers won the the grand prize after Santonio Holmes’ epic catch in the end zone with just seconds left on the clock is etched in Bethany’s memory forever. When she is free of her professional commitments, she likes to attend sports events and music concerts.

Know More

Dallas Cowboys Fans! Check out the latest Cowboys Schedule and dive into the Dallas Cowboys Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Krutik Jain