By Josh Katzenstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Before New Orleans Saints rookie defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was conceived, his mother had some morbid thoughts.
“Prior to that, I was trying to figure out ways to check out and basically leave this world,” Del Johnson said.
Having lived 17 years with what she described as an abusive, drug-addicted mother, Johnson said suicide was at the top of her mind. When she became pregnant, she was unsure how her future would change, but she had a newfound sense of direction when her son was born Dec. 20, 1997.
“When I had him and the doctor laid him on my chest, I was like, ‘Wow. Ok, God, I got it. I figured it out,’” Johnson said.
Those thoughts of suicide went away because Johnson — who was Del George at the time — knew that if she took her life, she would be subjecting her son to the same upbringing she had. Instead, she devoted her life to giving Chauncey — who was named after his biological father Chauncey Gardner Sr. — a loving, nurturing childhood, which she documented in a 2014 book, “Fighting to Win.”
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