“Go on, throw the ball to him,” encouraged a father who was crouched beside his son.
The child tightened his grip around the plastic ball with a skeptical look. Then he obliged, haphazardly tossing the ball into the air and immediately taking off as fast as his short legs could carry him across the grass.
His departure created an unusual scene: Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was left standing in the middle of the field with a ball in his hand, unsure of what his next move should be.
On Friday, The Smith-Njigba Foundation hosted an event at Jefferson Park to celebrate the Head Start graduates of The Denise Louie Education Center, a Seattle-based nonprofit that provides multicultural preschool, early learning and childcare services to underserved families. The foundation, created in 2025, is in its early days, but its first major event marks a full-circle moment for the family.
Smith-Njigba, who the Seahawks drafted in 2023, has become an icon around Seattle and beyond. This season, he helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl and was named the 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He’s used to fanfare, but among a crowd of kids mostly between the ages of two and four, there wasn’t much.
“They don’t care who I am,” Smith-Njigba said. “I think it feels good, in a way, because you know it just comes from the heart.”
The focus of the day was fun, with tents across the field offering yoga and face-painting. Kids screamed with joy as they jumped under the rainbow parachute raised up and down by Smith-Njigba and a group of parents.
“(Giving back) was always in the plan,” Jami Smith, Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s mom, said. “Once Jaxon made it to the NFL, after a lot of hard work and sacrifice, I think this is the next responsibility that comes with that platform.”
Jami said her son’s third year in the NFL felt like the right time for the family to launch the foundation, with a focus on being intentional about the work they engage in. Jami was a teen mom who started her career as a social worker and is now a teacher. Jaxon’s father, Maada Smith-Njigba, is a firefighter.
“Giving back is a part of who we are,” Jami said. “We thought about programs and resources we have a personal connection to. Head Start was immediately on the list because, even though it’s been 20 years, I’ve never forgotten about the impact they had on not just my kids, but me as a young mom.”
Jami has always been aware of Head Start programs because of her grandma’s passion for politics and social services. But it was a social worker who informed her of a local program when she was a college student three hours from home in Nacogdoches, Texas.
She enrolled her older son, Canaan Smith-Njigba, into Head Start and Jaxon into Early Head Start. Both are federally funded child development programs for low-income families that have branches across the county.
“The most impressive thing that still stands out to me is that it was not just a daycare center,” Jami said. “I had responsibilities and commitments on my part, like attending parenting classes that emphasized the importance of bonding with your child and reading to them. They helped me navigate through college, and the support was there to go to school.”
Jami said her program taught her sons foundational habits, from the routine of brushing their teeth at the toothbrush station to the importance of showing up on time every day.
“Education is how you learn consistently,” Jami said. “It’s where you learn responsibility, how to take care of your things, manners and teamwork. A lot of collaboration is done through play, like learning how to take turns and think about other people’s feelings.”
Two decades later, both of Jami’s sons are grown. Her oldest son, Canaan, was also a professional athlete who last played in the MLB in 2024. He now lives in Seattle.
As Jami began to think about the direction of the family’s foundation, she asked about Head Start chapters in Seattle. That’s how she met Susan Yang, the executive director of the Denise Louie Education Center.
“We want to make sure that we’re not just throwing our name on something that we can put our time into,” Jami said. “I wanted to start in Seattle because it’s become Jaxon’s home. He’s here full time, and I want him to be connected to the city.”
Together, they brainstormed ways the Smith-Njigba family could support the program. Jami brought Seahawks items to the auction and helped plan the celebration for this year’s graduates. The support comes at a pivotal time, as Head Start programs across the county have faced funding issues, especially during government shutdowns.
“The partnership with the foundation here with the JSN Foundation is really great, just because it’s a different kind of opportunity,” Yang said. “Sports tend to bring people together. There’s no partisanship nature to it, so it’s really, really good for the kids and families.”
The event was a family affair for the graduates and the Smith-Njigbas: families ate lunch together from the catered food trucks as Jaxon, Jami and Canaan toured the Beacon Hill education center together.
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“It’s good to be here and be around the community,” Jaxon said. “It’s good to show your face and get familiar with the people here that are doing great work in the community and city. Just to be a part of that is something special to me.”
The majority of fanfare came from parents hoping to get a photo of their child standing next to Jaxon. One dad told Jaxon he’d bought the No. 11 jersey he was wearing right before the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.
Jaxon also sat in front of a crowd of a few dozen kids and parents, including his own mom, to read a giant copy of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” He read into the microphone, struggling to keep the book’s flimsy pages open against the windy, and laughed at the line about milk mustaches. “We hate those,” he added with a smile.
At the end of the reading Jaxon announced that all of the program’s graduates would receive a copy of the children’s book “Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream.” It’s a book that Jami read to Jaxon as a child.
“I come from young parents, so having that support and getting the right education and quality time with people, friends and teachers definitely shaped me to be the person I am today and be a kind, loving neighbor,” Jaxon said.
Sofia Schwarzwalder: sschwarzwalder@seattletimes.com. Sofia Schwarzwalder is a general assignment sports reporter at The Seattle Times, where she covers breaking and trending news across all beats.