BEREA, Ohio — Jowon Briggs took his first collegiate snaps at Virginia in 2019. It was about a seven-hour drive from his hometown in Cincinnati, but it was a school he committed to over other options, including Ohio State and Cincinnati.
It proved to be a good fit and Briggs' skillset and effort were on full display for the Cavaliers. In 20 games between 2019 and 2020, Briggs recorded 39 tackles, seven tackles for loss and four sacks. Briggs was on a roll—and then life threw some changes his way.
"My wife got pregnant with my son, so the stipend wasn't what it was now back then. The stipend wasn't there. NIL wasn't there, so I figured we weren't going to be able to support a child on what I was getting there, so we had a couple [of] choices," Briggs said.
Nyjae, who was Briggs' girlfriend at the time, was from Philadelphia, and his family was back in Cincinnati. So Briggs decided to enter the transfer portal and had two options to choose from that would allow them to be near a support system: The University of Pennsylvania or Cincinnati. After consideration, the two opted for Cincinnati, and Briggs became a Bearcat.
From there, Briggs knew he had to give his all, both on the field and off of it.
"We convened together, made a pros and cons list of staying versus leaving," Briggs recalled. "We decided that would be best to leave. Left, went to Cincinnati and then I figured it would only be right, 'Hey, you're already are having my son, let's get married.' So that's kind of how things fell into place and we've just been killing it since then."
Married with a baby, Briggs aimed to provide for his new family. He knew he had to dedicate himself to the game with the goal of making it into the NFL, but the immediate need was still present. So Briggs got to work away from the gridiron as well.
"I actually picked up a couple of jobs and was able to make the most of it," Briggs said. "I was a manager at a chicken spot called Chick'nCone. Pretty much just, you make ice cream cones [and] put chopped up chicken in [it]. It's the wildest thing. People loved it."
In the summer and through the winter, Briggs would leave the football field and head to work. His manager worked with him to figure out hours around his football schedule.
"My manager, Kenny, a great guy. To this day, he's a great dude for letting me do that and just teaching me how to do all that and pretty much letting me provide for my family and my people to do that. So it's pretty nice," he said.
At 6 a.m., Briggs would be out the door for practice. Then he would lift, which would see him in the building anywhere from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. A 30-minute drive from campus to Blue Ash, Ohio, Briggs would then clock in for his shift at Chick'nCone, where he would work the closing shift, getting home after 10 p.m. to make dinner for the family and breakfast for himself.
A work ethic he had built around football was being fostered off the field. From working at the chicken spot to continuing school, which led to a graduate certificate in software development, hard work never ceased. Through everything, Briggs gave his all to his family. A family that has grown in size since 2021, when he transferred to Cincinnati.
Jowon, Briggs' firstborn, is now three. They've also welcomed a daughter, Reine, who will be 2 in July and a baby boy, Zane, who is eight months old.
A few weeks ago, Briggs, now 22, was gathered with his wife, three children and friends and family, waiting for his name to be called in the 2024 NFL Draft. The kids provide fun chaos that little ones do.
"My kids are my kids. They like to do what they like to do, so I'm freaking wrangling them. They're running around acting crazy," Briggs said. "Mind you, they go to bed at 7:30 promptly. So they're running around, my daughter and son are wrestling, so I'm pulling them apart and I get that call on my phone. I heard everybody sitting down, my wife's holding my youngest son and trying to hold them back at the same time. So it was a lot of fun that night."
Making it even more fun was hearing his name called. In the seventh round, with the 243rd pick, the Cleveland Browns selected Briggs. The moment was one that Briggs had been not only hoping for but working hard for.
Now, at rookie minicamp in Berea, Briggs is continuing to work. The defensive tackle enters a jam-packed roster. As a late-round pick, a spot on that roster is far from guaranteed.
Briggs knows that. But for him, he has something extra motivating him to impress and earn a spot on the roster.
"Everybody has their 'why,'" Briggs said. "It's a really big thing to love football, but it's a little bit different when you have somebody else depending on you, and I got four people depending on me immediately. So that kind of amps up the urgency to things and just really makes me take advantage of every single second out there."
The Browns organization has already felt that urgency. Head coach Kevin Stefanski appreciates the work already put in by Briggs, who shared with the team that his family was his motivation.
"I think he does a great job and he shared with the team that he has three young kids. He’s got a lot going on. He’s probably enjoying the sleep here in the hotel," Stefanski bantered. "But I think all of these guys have a story and all of these guys have a 'Why.' They’re all doing it for different reasons and certainly, that’s a big part of who he is. Spending time with him this offseason, we all got a feel for him and I think you guys will as well.”
Briggs took the practice fields Friday for rookie minicamp, excited to get to work with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and showcase his skillset.
Individual work on technique and footwork mixed in with teamwork to sharpen each other, Briggs was busy and, as usual, hard at work. The opportunity is not one he's taking lightly, and he sees it as a chance to play the position the best way he knows how.
"It's just really big for me coming from a freaking lateral passive type defense to be able to really just pin my ears back and go, I've never really had the chance. A lot of guys will say, 'Oh, well he did 42 reps and he squats X, Y, Z. Well, why is he on the line all the time or why is he playing lateral or whatever? And a lot of people don't understand that if you're a well-coached player, you do what the scheme dictates and that's what I like to do to help my team win and help my team be great," Briggs explained. "But finally I get a chance to kind of play at what I think would be my strengths, and that's just attacking the guy in front of me and just really getting up the field and letting my strength play his part."
As he continues learning the playbook and working to impress Stefanski, Schwartz and the rest of the staff, Briggs is doing it all with his family by his side.
He has his 'Why.' His wife. His children. They're all here in Northeast Ohio with Briggs, helping him channel his efforts toward the ultimate goal: locking up a spot on the Browns roster this fall.
"My goal is to outwork and pretty much just put my best foot forward. All you can do is control the controllables. You can just be responsible for yourself. But in saying that, family is one of my big things," Briggs said. "I'm keeping my family with me all throughout this process. If I got to break a lease, I got to sign a new one, it doesn't really matter to me as long as my family's with me and just really being able to go home and look at that, 'Why' every time is something big for me."
