The football that Terrion Arnold caught for his first NFL interception isn’t going in his trophy case or even to his grandmother. Instead, the Detroit Lions cornerback is sending the football to the younger brother of Arnold’s former Alabama teammate Khyree Jackson.
In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Lions chose Arnold at No. 24 in the first round. The Minnesota Vikings picked Jackson in the fourth round with the 108th overall selection.
But 15 days away from reporting for his first NFL training camp with Minnesota, Jackson died in a traffic accident on July 6, 2024.
Arnold’s first NFL interception came against the Vikings on Sunday.
Arnold and Detroit teammates safety Brian Branch, running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wide receiver Jameson Williams played with Jackson at Alabama.
“I called my granddaddy before the game, and I’m like, ‘Pops, man, this kind of feel different,’” Arnold said during Wednesday’s episode of “Closed on Sundays,” a podcast he hosts with former Crimson Tide and current Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II, “because you already know the story of Khyree passing. Every time we play the Vikings, it’s one of those things, where it’s, like, emotional for, like, me, Jamo, BB, Jah, going to school with Ree, seeing him get drafted, and that’s his former team.
“I told my Pops, I said, ‘Man, Pops, if I catch a pick, it’s going to mean so much to me,’ because my grandma said, ‘When you catch your first pick, you got to give me the game ball.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, Grandma, I got you.’ But I was wrestling with God about it. ‘If God allow me to catch a pick, man, I’m going to send the game ball to Khyree’s little brother, Kolston. I’m going to send it to him, man.’ My granddaddy said it just like this: ‘You know what? Since you took yourself out of it, you’re going to catch a pick today.’
“I just started feeling it. And, you know, sometimes God allows you to go out there, and it’s bigger than you.”
Arnold’s interception came on a pass from Minnesota quarterback J.J. McCarthy to wide receiver Jalen Nailor on a third-and-11 snap at the Vikings 46-yard line.
Nailor pinned the football to his hip while trying to corral the pass across the middle. But by the time Nailor and Arnold hit the turf at Ford Field, the Detroit defensive back had possession of the football at the Lions 39-yard line with 47 seconds left in the first half.
“When we went back to the sidelines, I had looked down at my wrists because I had ‘Long live Khyree’ on my wrists,” Arnold said, “and it was just one of those things, like, for me to be able to catch a pick versus his former team and not only that but be my first one, that meant a lot to me.
“Like today when I called his mom, I said, ‘Hey, I just want to tell you I want to give you, the family and Kolston the ball, my first pick.’ It’s one of those things when people pass I look at it as far as life go on. But when life go on, that family still got to deal with that. And she literally said, ‘It’s crazy you called, Terrion, because I spoke your name up.’ I said, ‘God spoke me up then.’ She said, ‘Whenever I’m having a rough day, whenever it gets hard, Khyree always knows how to send me a blessing.’
“And just for me to be able to make her day like that and be able to do that for the family, that meant a lot for me. Like we always say: It’s bigger than football. I look at it as far as like we fell short, we didn’t get the victory, but for me to be able to help that family and continue to know that their son is still living through us and people are still thinking about them, that mean everything to me.”
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In April, Arnold changed his jersey number from 0 to 6 in memory of Jackon. Arnold and Jackson played together in the Crimson Tide’s secondary in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Jackson wore No. 6 at Alabama before transferring to Oregon for the 2023 campaign.
According to a Maryland State Police report, Jackson was a passenger in a Dodge Charger that was involved in a three-vehicle wreck in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. State Troopers responded to the accident at 3:14 a.m. EDT July 6, 2024.
The Maryland State Police’s preliminary investigation indicated an Infiniti Q50 struck the Charger and a Chevrolet Impala while attempting a lane change at a high rate of speed. The Charger left the road and hit several tree stumps, the police report said.
While the occupants of the other two vehicles were uninjured, the three occupants of the Charger, including driver Isaiah Hazel and passenger Anthony Lytton Jr., were killed. Lytton and Hazel were teammates of Jackson’s at Dr. Henry Wise Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro.
On Jan. 23, Aisha Braveboy, the state’s attorney for Prince George’s County (Maryland), announced the driver of the Infiniti Q50 involved in the accident, Cori Clingman, was in custody after a grand jury returned a 13-count indictment against the 23-year-old woman. The charges against Clingman included three counts of homicide by motor vehicle or vessel while impaired by alcohol.
Originally on the calendar for the Criminal Court for Prince George’s County for June 9, Clingman’s trial now has a date of March 9.
After Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Vikings, Detroit has a 5-3 record heading into Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders. The Lions are one-half game behind the Green Bay Packers, who lead the NFC North with a 5-2-1 record.
“Football is a humbling sport,” Arnold said after Sunday’s game. “So, I mean, you can’t get too high, can’t get too low. You know, even with this team just allowing us to continue to get back to the drawing board, allowing us not to forget about the little details. And it’s a long road. We’re not even at the halfway point in the season.
“I mean, then it helps, too, that Green Bay lost (16-13 to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday).”
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