Shane Ray and Sebrina Johnson: A son's promise to his mother

According to Shane Ray, he never expected to play in the NFL until his Junior year. He told us, “I started to see my name on mock drafts all over the country.” But did he want to leave college early? That was actually a much tougher question than you’d assume.

His mother, Sebrina Johnson, holds two master’s degrees and absolutely blew away a room full of media members when she took questions after Shane’s introductory press conference. She was smart, intuitive, engaging, and sharp. She explained that Shane set a bench mark, reached his goal, and then made a big promise to her before he declared for the 2015 NFL draft.

According to Sebrina, Shane told her that if he eclipsed Missouri’s all-time sack record, won the SEC player of the year award, and was named an All-American, he would enter the NFL draft. She added one condition – He had to promise to get his degree as well.

Sebrina admitted that she didn’t take the claim too seriously until her son actually started tearing each one of these goals down, one after another. At the end of the year, he accomplished everything on the list and was only two classes away from obtaining his college degree.

After a series of discussions, Shane Ray decided to enter the NFL Draft. Along with that decision was the promise to his ultra-supportive mother that he would indeed go back and finish up his degree. When I asked if he now owes her that, she laughed and said, “Yes, he owes me that!”

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