If you want a future fantasy football tip, here’s your inside scoop. When WR Van Jefferson is facing his dad’s team, get him in the starting lineup. Jefferson has found the end zone four times versus his father’s club, the latest coming on Sunday night. Shawn Jefferson is the WRs Coach for the New York Jets and Van made his first end zone trip of the season against them.
“I scored against him when the Cardinals came to the Rams,” Jefferson told reporters via the team website following today’s practice. “That was 2021. Then we played him again, away Monday night, I scored. And then 2022 scored again. So this is my fourth time.”
A former receiver himself, Shawn Jefferson served as the Arizona Cardinals’ wide receivers coach from 2021-2022, Van Jefferson’s second and third years in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams. Van made his mark in 2021, scoring in both games against the Cardinals as the Rams split the season series. That included a 52-yard touchdown in the rubber match.
Van’s season ended better than his dad’s, hoisting a Lombardi after beating the Cincinnati Bengals.
After missing the first half of 2022, Jefferson scored in just his third-game back. It came in garbage time, the final 10 seconds of a 10-point loss, but his streak against his dad extended to three.
It ended the following year as both Jefferson’s found themselves in new places. Shawn hired by the Carolina Panthers, Van traded to the Atlanta Falcons mid-season. He logged just 13 snaps in a 9-7 barnstormer against Carolina in Week 15, failing to catch his only target.
Both men were on the move in 2024. The Panthers re-tooled their coaching staff after Frank Reich’s firing and Shawn Jefferson was hired by the New York Jets, replacing Zach Azzanni, who made his way to Pittsburgh. Van followed Arthur Smith up to Pittsburgh as one of several former Falcons to make the northerly trip.
And both were in Acrisure Stadium Sunday night when Jefferson, after a night of digging out safeties in the run game, was rewarded with a 4-yard score to salt the game away.
Van Jefferson, whose son also attended, told reporters he was looking for his dad in that moment.
“When I caught it, I ran to the middle of the field looking for him. But I couldn’t find him. And he said he would’ve paid my fine. So I was like, okay, cool.”
Don’t worry, the ball’s still making its way to Papa Jefferson. And signed, as if he wasn’t sure whose it would be.
“I’m gonna give it to my pops. Every time I score against him, I’m always giving the ball. So it’s gonna be cool to give it to him.”
The theme of the week was father-sons in sports. LeBron and Bronny James made history as the first basketball father-son combo to play for the same team. Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. sat courtside to take it in, one of several baseball duos to say the same. In football, it’s been done just once, 100 years ago in the sports earliest days, and will be challenging to see happen again. Frank Gore Sr. and Jr. came as close as it gets and still missed each other by 4 years. As did Shawn and Van. But they can still connect through their football pursuits and share some great memories, even if that inevitably means Van scoring against his dad’s team.
“It’s an awesome feeling every time I get to go up against my dad and be on the same field as him. It is just a blessing and so grateful for it. It was cool.”
