HOUSTON, Texas (WTVF) — When he takes the field for Michigan in Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game, linebacker Junior Colson will embody the true American dream.
Born in Haiti in 2002, Junior learned devastation early in life. His father passed away when he was a young child and he was orphaned by the time the small, Caribbean nation was rocked by an earthquake in 2010.
But he soon would learn that love and an opportunity can conquer all.
“I’ve broken a lot of limits in my life coming from a third world country,” Colson said in a recent Degree testimonial.
But he didn’t do it without help.
“I fell in love with my family at a very young age. They fell in love with me. It was a perfect click,” Colson said.
Shortly after the earthquake, Melanie Colson and her daughter Amanda traveled to Haiti to lend aid. They met then nine-year-old Junior in the orphanage and struck an immediate connection.
After consultation with her husband, Steve the Colsons decided to adopt Junior and welcome him into their family 1,500 miles away in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Junior fit in quickly in his new home. He learned English in less than a year, and the soccer enthusiast immediately found an interest and promise on the football field.
Colson became a star at Ravenwood, shining as a linebacker and running back. On May 24, 2020 — 10 years to the day when he boarded that flight to the United States — Colson committed to play football at the University of Michigan.
“I thought Michigan fit me the best both culturally and athletically,” Colson said at the time.
He has certainly found another family in Ann Arbor. He became a starter about a month into his freshman season and was named the Wolverines Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021. He followed that up with a 100-tackle, All-Big Ten season as a sophomore.
This season Colson has been the leader of the nation’s no. 1 defense while helping Michigan go 14-0. The Wolverines captured a third straight Big Ten championship and another trip to the College Football Playoff.
“When were out there it’s like our whole family is right there,” Colson said about the Michigan defense. “We’re fighting for our family. We’re playing for our family in everything that we do.”
Colson has a team-high 89 tackles and won the LOTT Impact Trophy, given annually to the best defensive player that also displays integrity, academic excellence and community involvement.
Despite playing through injuries to both arms, he had a team-high 10 tackles in the Rose Bowl. He was in the mix as the Wolverines stuffed Alabama’s fourth and goal attempt in overtime.
“Man, I knew something great was going to happen,” Colson said. “Something great just happened at the Rose Bowl. There’s been such great history at this place and we just made some more. This team — team 144 — we battled through everything. To be able to come out here and do this, I’m so proud of us. It’s all glory to God at the end of the day, but I’m so proud.”
Colson will soon have another big life choice in front of him when he will have to decide whether to enter the NFL Draft, where he is projected as a third or fourth round pick, or return to school for his senior season.
Eventually, Colson plans to return to Haiti and open an orphanage to help young kinds who find themselves in similar situations to the one he was once in.
But for right now he’s focused only on Monday’s championship. A 60 minute game for college football immortality; a world away from the death and heartache that surrounded his childhood.
“You’ve got to go out with a bang,” Colson said. “You’ve got to go out with a win. It’s something I feel like we’ve been preparing for year after year and now it’s time to go get it.”
It's truly the small things that add up to a great day - and Warrick in Lebanon is having a big impact. His familiar face is becoming a staple in one part of the community and inspiring closer connection in the simplest way. Enjoy his warm personality! You may even feel inclined to wave to a stranger today, too.
-Rebecca Schleicher
