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Each game, whether it is home or away, Elisha Jarrett will lean over the railing of the first row behind the bench to greet her son, Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, with some encouragement. As the two meet during pregame festivities, their fists pound against one another, with Elisha offering up one word for her son to live by once kickoff takes place.

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In Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings, it was “dominate.” In Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles, it was “explosive.” Last week against the Indianapolis Colts, that word was “strength.”

That word strength also could apply to Elisha, who overcome a world of pain to ensure her streak of attending every single one of her son’s games remained intact.

The Monday morning after Atlanta’s loss to the Vikings, Elisha hurried back to the Atlanta area to undergo surgery on her neck and spine at 5 a.m. Grady and the rest of the immediate family were there, with Elisha needing to spend a couple of days at the hospital to recover. By Wednesday, still in a great deal of pain from the procedure, she left the hospital with one particular goal on her mind — getting to Mercedes-Benz Stadium that Sunday to see Grady and the Falcons play against the Eagles.

Grady actually was advising his mother to rest, considering the significance of the surgery and the medication required to recover. That didn’t matter to Elisha.

No one could convince her to stay home.

All about support

Growing up in Michigan, Elisha excelled at sports. She played basketball, volleyball and ran track. In college at Jackson State, she was a dancer. But growing up, she was one of eight children to a single mother. When she attended her youth league sporting events, she didn’t have a parent who could make it to every game. The closest thing was when her aunt and uncle could attend one of her sporting events.

Therefore, Elisha decided that if she had a child who was serious about sports, she would offer the high level of support she would have loved to have received.

Grady turned out to be that child, the middle sibling to older sister Kamilya and younger sister Ashema. In addition to excelling on the football field, Grady was a state-champion wrestler and a standout at baseball, the sport Elisha initially thought he would wind up pursuing. But as Grady honed in on football, she made sure she was a presence at every possible event.

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When Grady was at Clemson, Elisha would drive from her Georgia home to campus on Wednesdays to attend family night and watch practice. Wherever the Tigers were each Saturday, Elisha was there. With the Falcons, Elisha doesn’t have tickets in the family section — she bought her own PSLs so that she could be close to the defensive side of the bench. Ever since Grady was 5 years old, he remembers seeing his mom in attendance.

“Every game in college, every game in the NFL,” he said. “She was there when I first started playing. I’m blessed to have that kind of support.”

They often will lock eyes during games, Elisha said, as they have some nonverbal cues to communicate with one another. She laughed about how she’ll sometimes mimic a move he needs to do if he falls short on a play and how he will respond to it later.

“He messes with me when I try to do the swing demonstration when he needs to swing to get around the center or guard,” Elisha said. “‘You’re not using your hands.’ He laughs at me, but he takes it.”

Roughly two years ago, Elisha suffered a fall at work and broke her ankle in a couple of different places. The accident left her in a walking boot for about 11 weeks. Sometime during that span, her back began to bother her, as well. At first, she was seeing a chiropractor and undergoing physical therapy. When her right arm started falling asleep near the beginning of this year, she realized a bigger problem might be emerging.

Her doctor originally wanted to perform surgery last year but she resisted. Agreeing to do so this time around, Elisha initially asked if she could wait until after the Falcons’ football season. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.

“He basically told me if you don’t have it before mid-September, that he was going to refer me out because he would no longer feel comfortable doing it, because daily there was some degeneration going on,” Elisha said. “That’s why the decision was made for me to go ahead and get it done now.”

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Elisha’s surgeon normally operates on Wednesdays and every other Friday. He made an exception this time. Operating on a Monday would give Elisha the chance to still make the Eagles game and continue her streak.

“Some way, somehow, she worked her magic to get it done,” Grady said.

‘I wasn’t going to miss that game’

Elisha said she has been getting better by the day. But her body sure did, and still does, ache out of surgery.

“I’m having indescribable pain when it comes to shoulder and back spasms,” she said.

Grady, looking out for his mom, told her it would be OK if she missed a game. Instead of walking into a crowded stadium, she could have a nice setup at home and watch the game comfortably. No, she told her son. She was going to be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

When Grady realized he wasn’t going to convince his mother to take it easy, he arranged for her to sit in one of the Mercedes-Benz suites for the Falcons’ game against the Eagles. He had Atlanta’s security team arrange a wheelchair to take her up to the suite and ensure nothing went awry while she watched the game. Considering the opponent, and the fact that Atlanta and Philadelphia played some tough, hard-fought games in recent years, that added to Elisha’s desire to be there.

“I knew for the life of me I wasn’t going to miss that game,” Elisha said. “I don’t know what game they could have talked me into missing but it wasn’t going to be that one.”

Of course, the game turned out to be a slugfest from start to finish. Atlanta won, with Julio Jones’ late-game heroics lifting the team to victory. But Jarrett had a strong game from start to finish. He recorded five tackles, with his most important play being a sack of Carson Wentz in the second quarter. The Eagles were threatening in Atlanta territory, with Jarrett’s play forcing a field-goal try instead of a touchdown.

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After letting out a celebratory scream, Jarrett pointed to the Mercedes-Benz suite his mother was in and blew a kiss.

“That was to my mom,” Grady said. “She made it to the game, not even a week out of surgery … Everybody wanted her to stay at home, but she wasn’t having it.”

Did she see his kiss?

“Oh, absolutely, 100 percent,” Elisha said.

It’s one thing for Elisha to make arrangements to attend a home game. To travel outside the state after neck and back surgery would be another. Last Thursday, Grady said he wasn’t sure if she would be able to fly up for the game. By Friday, she had a bag packed and was ready to go.

Elisha had a wheelchair arranged at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to take her to her departure gate. Her twin sister, Dr. Ramona Lancaster-Epps, was by her side during the trip. She flew out of Atlanta shortly after 3 p.m. last Saturday, stayed at the team hotel and made arrangements so that she could get to her seat in the first row behind the defensive bench.

By this point she was able to walk, as long as her neck brace — which she had bejeweled with Grady’s No. 97 on it — was on. As the game neared kickoff, the routine stayed the same. She was down by the bench, fist-bumping Grady, telling him the word of the game would be “strength.”

Head coach Dan Quinn said you can’t miss Elisha in the stands. In addition to the decorated neck brace, she still wore her bedazzled Falcons hat and jeweled jersey. When Quinn heard she would make the Eagles game, he knew nothing would stop her from making it out to Indianapolis.

“It goes to show that a lot of his toughness comes from her,” Quinn said. “The outlook that Grady has, he’s really mentally tough, too. It’s awesome to see their connection as mother and son. It’s really strong.”

While Quinn is Grady’s professional coach, Elisha will still be in her son’s ear with some football tips, too. If she thinks his first step is slow on a play, she’ll be quick to let him know. She’ll not only re-watch his games, but she’ll scout the opposition and offer up some pointers on who he’s facing that week. Every chance she’s had to learn football, she’s taken it upon herself to do so.

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This goes back to when Grady was in college, when she would make sure to attend the Dabo Swinney Ladies Clinic each year. Heading into this season, Elisha said the two came up with a mantra.

“This year, our thing is, ‘Don’t wait,’” Elisha said. “What are you dancing for? Don’t wait. Don’t wait until the second quarter to do what you could have done in the first quarter. Don’t wait until the second half. Don’t wait. That’s what I tell him.”

When the Falcons take on the Titans on Sunday, you can bet Elisha will be in her spot, cheering on her son once again. Nothing — not even spinal surgery — can keep her away from supporting her son on the gridiron.

“More reasons than anything it’s that support for him,” she said. “I think he’s going to do his thing either way. It does him good, whether he admits it or not, and it certainly does me good for him to turn around and look in the stands for some confirmation.”

(Top photo: Courtesy of Elisha Jarrett)

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