Jake Payton '14 Recruiting Profile

At the age of 3, I was placed into the care of my grandmother after being taken away from my parents who were addicted to drugs and alcohol.  Since that point, my life has been a bit of a roller coaster ride.  I have seen my entire family; mom, dad, brother and sisters go in and out of jail and battle with addiction.  Growing up in the trailer park was rough, we didn’t have much, we didn’t always have a lot of food to eat and I didn’t always have a bed to sleep on, but my grandma did her absolute best to take care of me.  I love my family, but I knew pretty early on that I didn’t want to go down that road.  People always want to know what the difference is in my life.  For me it is my athletic ability, some key people that help take care of me and my decision to make something of my life.

Going to college was never something my family talked about much, since most of them never graduated high school.    Not only do I have a dream to graduate from both high school and college to break that mold, but to continue my football career at the collegiate level.

Please read the follow article that was written by the local newspaper on my life to get a better insight on who I am and who I want to be.

http://www.insidesocal.com/tribpreps/2012/09/03/san-dimas-jake/