‘Pure happiness’: Roswell QB passes homecoming king honors to team assistant
Roswell quarterback Trey Smith was named homecoming king — but he quickly passed the honor along.
The Furman football commit took his sash and crown and ran over to team student assistant Jake Jeffries, who he placed them on.
“It was awesome,” Jeffries said, remembering the crowd’s cheers.
Jeffries has Down syndrome, which was something his parents once feared might limit how others saw him.
“You worry that they’re not going to be included,” said Jeffries’ dad, Scott Jeffries.
The roots of the homecoming moment, which made its way around social media on Oct. 11, can be traced back to 2020, Jake Jeffries’ first year in high school. Scott approached one of the teachers, who was also an assistant football coach, with the idea of letting Jake be involved with the football team.
Jeffries began running out on the field with the football team before games.
“He just kept showing up after that,” his dad said.
Jeffries joined the athletic training staff the following season, assisting Cassidy Windsor, Roswell’s athletic trainer and a residency department supervisor for Source Sports Medicine.
“We work very closely with his teachers to make sure that this is a beneficial program for him,” Windsor said. “It’s been so cool for me to get to watch him grow.”
When he first started, Jeffries, at times, would wander the halls or find himself in a different classroom, which caused him to need an escort to practice each day. Now, Jeffries walks from his class to the training room unsupervised.
Jeffries’ first year helping the training staff was also Smith’s freshman season. From the start, the team made it a point to treat Jeffries, who competes in powerlifting, as part of the team.
“It’s been really cool just to see the friendships that he’s developed with players that have come and gone and graduated,” Scott Jeffries said. “The fact that they even know him, talk to him and spend time with him, is everything I need.”
When Roswell parted ways with its head football coach after last season, there was worry that Jeffries might be unable to work with the football team.
“I didn’t want Jake’s relationship with the team to change,” his dad said.
So, when new head coach Jonathan Thompson was hired, Scott Jeffries reached out on behalf of his son, who was going into his senior year.
“When I had the opportunity to be faced with a young man like Jake to be a part of our program, of course there should be no hesitation,” Thompson said. “That’s why you coach, that’s why you’re an educator, that’s why you’re a leader of young people — to impact. If anybody would tell you differently, I think they’re probably not in the right profession.”
Thompson, Cassidy and Smith have all talked about how it’s not just that they want Jeffries involved with the team, but that he brings something they need — energy, positivity and motivation.
Just days before homecoming night, Smith was clued in that he was a front-runner for homecoming king. Smith had encouraged schoolmates to vote for Jeffries, who was also on the court.
Smith, who is also a standout baseball player at Roswell, knew that if he was crowned, he would pass the honor along. He told administrators of his plan.
When Smith’s name was called, he grabbed the crown before anyone could coronate him, sprinted to Jeffries, draped the robe, placed the sash and crowned him — then turned to pump up the crowd.
“I just saw his smile on his face,” Smith said. “(He) just lit up, and then he just looked. It was just pure happiness.”
For Scott, that moment was special.
“(If) you would have told me 20 years ago when he was born that he would be homecoming king,” Scott Jeffries said, “I would have been amazed and ecstatic because it certainly wasn’t something that we expected when he was born. It made my year without question.”
Jake Jeffries and his family are preparing for what’s next — he and his family hope he’ll join the ClemsonLIFE program, which helps young adults with intellectual disabilities build independent lives.
Now, Jeffries walks around his home calling himself “the king.” His dad says that every time he does, it’s a reminder of the inclusion that Roswell and Smith have shown.
