After playing two seasons at Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa., near Philadelphia, Ferguson was convinced he wasn’t going to get what he was hoping out of football.
“At one point, I was actually going to stop playing football,” Ferguson said. “There was a lot of pressure and I wasn’t getting the results that I really wanted.
“The school I was at up in Philly, they ran the ball like 95 percent of the time.”
The talented wide receiver finished his sophomore season with a total of 14 receptions. “I had doubts about continuing to play.”
Ferguson would visit his father, Jason, in Florida in the summers and during the time between his sophomore and junior years, the two started talking about Justin moving down to Florida.
“It wasn’t something that just happened out of the blue. It was something we had talked about for a while,” Jason said. “On one of those summer vacation visits, we just happened to be talking in the car one day.
“I said, ‘If you’re ready to make that move, let’s call your mother and talk about it.’”
Justin did call his mother, and after a 45-minute phone conversation, she approved the move.
“We came to the conclusion that moving down here would be the best thing for me,” Justin said.
It was definitely a sacrifice on his mother’s part.
“I lived with her all of my life,” Justin said. “When I was up there, it was only me and my mom. She’s living by herself right now.”
Justin returned home for a couple of weeks before moving to Pembroke Pines, Fla., the summer before his junior year, and has only been able to visit her once since, but he stays in touch with her through several phone calls.
“She’s a real strong woman and I commend her for that,” said Justin.
Jason still has a very good relationship with Justin’s mother, who had no problem entrusting him with her son.
“She understood he was getting to that point,” said Jason. “His other two brothers were already down here. She knew I had the best of intentions and we have a great relationship.
“He was getting to that point in his life as a teenager where we needed to be closer together to groom him for the next level.”
Justin saw football as a driving force for the move.
“The real reason moving down here was for the opportunity to get scouted down here,” he said. ““I think I always had potential, I always had the right mindset. I always wanted to go Division I, but my work ethic wasn’t where it is now. When I came down here, I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. I knew what I had to do and I just got that done.”
But Jason was able to see a bigger picture.
“I wouldn’t even say it was 100 percent a football change,” Mr. Ferguson said. “I think he was like, ‘I’m ready for a change. I’m ready for a new scene, a new environment. I’m getting to that point.’ It just happened to work out that way where he came and it was a perfect storm, perfect timing. He could have very well stayed with his mom and finished out his last two years, which he would have been happy with.”
That perfect storm consisted of Justin’s mental and physical maturity, combined with an offense that would feature his talents, a fertile location for college scouts along with the efforts behind the scenes of his father and stepmother.
“I knew if he played to the level he was capable of playing at, I knew he would get some recognition,” Jason said. “But honestly, I don’t think he would be at the level he’s at now had it not been for some of the strategic moves done by his stepmom in terms of contacting the right people in the media locally.”
Cheretha Ferguson made sure all of the media members received all of the statistics and relevant information on Justin and also created and maintained a Facebook page loaded with as much information as possible. Meanwhile, Jason contacted some people he knew with connections at ESPN Rise and Nike combines, who promised to keep their eyes out for his son.
“He could be here playing great, but if no one knows he’s here, he could slip through the cracks,” Jason said. “He gave us something to work with and we took that and ran with it.”
Justin would certainly gave them plenty to work with.
Check back tomorrow for Part II.
