By BONNIE CULVERHOUSE, Webster Parish Journal
The first time Jane Sneed changed her son’s diaper, did she know he would be a Super Bowl winning cornerback with Kansas City Chiefs?
“No, I did not,” Jane said. “That was a formula that was not even generated yet.”
Not only did L’Jarius Sneed play for a Super Bowl-winning team once, he now has won two Super Bowl rings with the same team.
And his mother, a Minden resident, is becoming almost as popular. Now Jane is known in KC as “Mama Sneed.”
“With the popularity on his behalf, we don’t put ourselves out there because we know there are individuals that are not happy for you,” Jane said. “Security is everywhere we go, now. As becoming known as ‘Mama Sneed,’ the popularity is just overwhelming. I never thought that title would hit as popular as it is. I’m just his mom, but the people up there say, ‘no, you’re Mama Sneed.’”
It feels like a celebrity name to her, but even with security, Jane Sneed is still the same person … only better.
“I still have that outspokenness … the firmness,” she said. “I’m more of a people-person now than I have ever been. I get out and make myself comfortable around others.”
It’s not about being the mother of a celebrity. “I’m still an individual – I’m still me.”
When L’Jarius Sneed was a youngster, he played basketball. Between 8 and 10 years old, he played Little League football. But Jane says when he was in ninth grade, her other sons – T.Q. Sneed and the late T.Q. Harris – convinced him to play football at Minden High School, and he loved it.
“That’s when people said ‘he’s good; he’s going pro,’” she said. “And yet, we could not see it. To us, it was just playing football.”
About the same time, L’Jarius said he began to realize he had a future in the pros.
“About my junior year in high school,” he said. “I was playing both sides of the ball, and I started getting offers. That was a special year, so I took the chance.”
It paid off, first with a scholarship to play close to home at Louisiana Tech. L’Jarius did not finish his time at Tech, because the allure of professional football was calling his name.
“It’s not because anyone was coming after him,” Jane explained. “He was going in as a walk-on. The day of the (NFL) Combine, someone called and invited him. At the Combine, he worked himself out and he made it, and that’s where we are today.”
L’Jarius has been credited with more than a play or two that may have sent Kansas City to this year’s Super Bowl. Some of those plays include hitting the opposition really hard. Does Mama Sneed ever fuss at her son for how hard he hits? It was a question that made her laugh almost as hard as L’Jarius hits.
“Actually, we have talked about it after every game,” she said. “What he tells us is it’s his thrive and his drive. It’s his motivation, and whatever is happening in his life, he takes it to the field and lets it out.”
She said her son is aggressive on the field because of his work ethic.
“He goes out there knowing who he is and what he can accomplish, and that’s what makes him be that aggressive player,” she said. “He likes to get into the mind of the opponent. He lets them know he is not one they can talk noise to and get away with it.”
But, she added, “when his words catch up with his actions, that’s where you have trouble.”
L’Jarius joined his mother to hand out groceries at Mt. Calm Senior Hamlet on Lee Street in Minden Tuesday morning. The groceries were provided by Northwest Louisiana Food Bank, but Sneed missed a plane and donated his time to help Mama Sneed and be available for the community he still calls home. However, he said he loves Kansas City, too.
“I try to help the children as much as I can,” he added. “I try to do a lot with the Boys and Girls Club.”
He said it meant a lot to him to come back home and help his mother with the food project.
“We have a responsibility to these people who don’t have as much as we do,” he said.
These days, Jane attends all of L’Jarius’ home games in Kansas City. As for going on the road ….
“Well, it depends on where the games are,” she said. “I’m not into the cold weather.”
She has, however, learned to love flying because “it goes quicker.”
Jane was in Kansas City the day of the mass shooting at the Super Bowl rally on the Wednesday following the game.
“It was very scary because at the time it started, the players were on the stage, and we saw the police running and then we heard boom, boom, boom – shots,” she said. “Everybody ducked and went to the ground. I did not see my son L’Jarius and at that time, I was in panic mode. I’m a ‘whining mama’ then. They got us out of Union Station and onto the buses that were protected from bullets so we were safe. I saw L’Jarius walking out and he got on after I did. That was the scariest time of my life.”
Since that day, two adults have been arrested and charged with two counts of felony murder and two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
Last year, Minden held its own celebration for L’Jarius, including a parade and a time for autographs and awards, all held downtown.
Plans are underway right now for another salute this Saturday, but it will be a little different from last year.
Security was upgraded last year and will be again this year.
“The mayor gave JJ a proclamation day on (Monday) March 4, but we are actually doing the celebration Saturday at 11 o’clock. There’s a parade downtown,” she said. “Afterward, we will resume with an event at the recreation center on Industrial Drive where there will be photo shootings and signings, things for the kids – a concert for everyone that’s going to be a surprise. We know who’s coming, but we’re not saying who it is yet.”
She said because of security, she likes the idea of moving everything inside a closed area.
“It makes me feel 100 percent better,” Jane said. “There will still be security for the parade, but being indoors for the rest of it … that will be easier for security to keep everyone safe.”
The public is encouraged to attend Saturday’s events. Mama Sneed will be easy to spot. She’ll be the one with the biggest smile.