“The Jeffersons” was a hit TV sitcom on CBS from 1975 to 1985, with its famous theme song, “Movin’ On Up.”
There’s another hit Jeffersons show playing out on the football field at Cathedral High, where coach Vince Jefferson, younger brother and offensive coordinator Jabari Jefferson, and Jabari’s son, quarterback Jaden Jefferson, have the Phantoms rolling this season at 4-0.
There’s even comedy involved since Vince is the defensive coordinator and debates with the offensive coordinator whether to punt, kick a field goal or go for it on fourth down. Last season, in a game against St. Francis, Vince wanted to settle for a field goal. Jabari objected loudly, wanting to go for a touchdown on fourth down.
“I was laughing,” Jaden said.
The field-goal attempt was blocked and run back for a touchdown.
Jabari offered the last words: “I told you we should have gone for it.”
Vince and Jabari are close. They had to overcome the death of their mother when they were young. Jabari was in middle school and Vince was a senior in high school. Jabari was a star running back at Cathedral under former coach Kevin Pearson, who hired Vince as an assistant.
There are more Jeffersons headed to Cathedral. Vince has a son who’s a receiver arriving next year, so it will be cousin catching passes from cousin.
Jaden has two brothers,12 and 10, so he’s proud about his 4.0 grade-point average.
“I feel anybody should be a role model to any little brother, but for me being a role model to my brothers is big. He looks up to me, so I have to pave the way,” Jaden said.
Jaden’s ability to improvise, stay calm under pressure and make plays at his size (5 feet 10) is reminding Cathedral fans of former quarterback Bryce Young, who played two years for the Phantoms before transferring to Mater Dei, then winning the Heisman Trophy in 2021 at Alabama before becoming the NFL’s No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft.
“Bryce is an inspiration tor me, because with shorter quarterbacks, he paved the way for me to go on further to college,” Jaden said.
Cathedral has used the speed from members of the Southern Section Division 3 championship track team to have success. Jaden tries to get the ball to his athletes and let them make plays. He has 10 touchdown passes with one interception in four games.
He’s got senior Antonio Walton, who ran a 10.73-second 100 meters last year and returned from an injury. There’s 6-3 sophomore receiver Quentin Hale, a top triple jumper. Another sophomore receiver, Brian Prince, ran a 22.21-second 200 meters. Sophomore Roosevelt Reuben might be the fastest of all, having run 21.25 in the 200 and 47.80 in the 400 as a freshman. Reuben is supposed to return soon after having a bone chip cleaned up.
Jaden has his own speed and strength. “One of the things about Jaden is he’s a weight-room junkie,” Vince said.
Pound for pound (he’s 170), Jaden might be the strongest on the team and occasionally can be found lifting with the linemen. He can do a 400-pound squat. He believes being strong helps protect him from injuries.
Jabari and Jaden commute daily from their home in Moreno Valley, leaving at 6:15 a.m. for a two-hour drive to Cathedral near downtown Los Angeles. The big delay happens in a West Covina freeway bottleneck. It’s 90 minutes home. Jaden sleeps on the ride to Cathedral and catches up on homework on the way home.
Jaden was the quarterback for the best youth football team in the nation, the L.A. Rampage, that included such top high school players as Duvay Williams and Skylar Robinson from Gardena Serra, Richard Wesley from Sierra Canyon and Steven Perez from Banning. He was like a politician when answering the question of who was his favorite player.
“The whole team was like brothers and a big family to me,” he said.
Make no mistake about it, Jaden, his father and uncle have Cathedral moving on up.
