HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Former Highland Springs High School football star Mekhi Becton is now a Super Bowl champion. Becton, 25, is a starting offensive lineman on the Philadelphia Eagles.
"This is the happiest and most emotional I’ve ever been, other than my son being born," Becton told The New York Post. “As a player, this is something you dream about.”
Becton is in his fifth NFL season and first with the Eagles.
He went on to tell The Post what was going through his mind while the Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I'm a kid from Richmond, Virginia,” Becton said. "People don’t make it out of Richmond from where I’m from. I’m not supposed to be here right now. I was thinking about that and thinking about all the people watching me back home. I was doing it for them, man."
Henrico County Supervisor Tyrone Nelson, whose district covers Highland Springs said Monday that the whole region is proud of the success Becton has earned by hard work.
"This kid was walking the halls of Highland Springs High School, and now, the next time we see him in the area, he'll be walking around with a Super Bowl ring," Nelson said. "That shows our kids that if you dream big, your dreams can be fulfilled, and so you work hard, in the right situation with people investing in you, and you investing in yourself."
After a stellar football career at the University of Louisville, Becton was selected 11th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft by the New York Jets.
The 6-foot-7, 360-pound football player signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in the offseason and is now free to sign with a new team.
Watch: Former Highland Springs standout drafted to New York Jets
Becton has returned to Richmond over the years in an effort to positively impact the community.
He took part in the first 804 Sports Association's Youth NFL Camp at Dorey Park back in 2021.
"It's really important. You’ve got little kids out here, standing right here looking at me as I do this,” Becton said that day. “We’ve got people that were in high school together just coming back together, giving back to the kids. [That’s] something that we didn’t have growing up, so it is really great because they’re going to look forward to it every year, so it’s a great thing."
Watch: NFL stars attend youth football camp: 'It's a great thing'
Email your congratulations to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky| Facebook| Instagram| X| Threads| TikTok| YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
