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Mount Airy's Jaelen Strong will carry father's memory to NFL draft

Jaelen Strong will shake NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's hand whenever he is picked in the draft this week, and a national audience will learn about one of the top receivers in this year's crop.

Jaelen Strong will shake NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's hand whenever he is picked in the draft this week, and a national audience will learn about one of the top receivers in this year's crop.

What viewers won't see is his mother's name tattooed on the Arizona State star's back, his father's name tattooed above his heart, and the Philadelphia skyline tattooed on his biceps. Each one helps explain how he reached this point, but it's fitting that they'll be concealed.

The Mount Airy native takes pride in his stoicism, and understanding Strong requires one to look beyond the surface.

As a 9-year-old, Strong taught his mother how to properly wash her hands and wear the hospital gown and cap at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital after his father, John Rankin, underwent a bone marrow transplant while suffering from leukemia. That can make a boy grow quickly.

Rankin died in 2003 at age 36. His legacy, as described in a 2013 Inquirer story, was significant. Rankin created a reputation as a standout basketball player at West Catholic and Drexel and as a popular detective in the Philadelphia Police Department.

Shawn Wilson, who shared a squad car with Rankin and is Strong's godfather, attended a police officer's retirement party on Sunday night. Everyone talked about Strong, how much he looked like his father, and how proud Rankin would be.

Rankin, who was 6-foot-8, used to scream with his powerful voice while running along the sidelines when Strong scored touchdowns as a kid. Now that Strong is a potential first-round pick?

"He'd just be elated," Wilson said. "You couldn't contain him right now if he was still here to see it."

Strong's parents were not married, but his father, who lived in East Oak Lane, maintained a constant presence. Even though Strong lost his father at a young age, he grew up in a stable home. He never wanted for anything, and he received love and support from his mother, Alexis Strong, and other family members.

Trouble at school

Strong handled his father's death well for the first few years, his mother said. Then came high school. Strong enrolled at West Catholic because that's where his father went. He took a bus and two trains to get there each day.

His mother was concerned because Rankin's picture hung on the wall at the school, along with plaques bearing his name. That evoked memories of his father and started behavioral issues that almost derailed Strong's admission at the parochial school. His mother said officials could have dismissed him, but they stood by Strong. She made him see a therapist, and "it was the better for him."

"I was just all over the place," Strong said. "I thought I was invincible. I was real disrespectful. . . . I just had a problem with authority, especially with males. If he wasn't my grandfather, my uncle - if I didn't know you, I didn't want you telling me what to do. . . . I always had that guard up, like, 'You're trying to be my dad.' "

Strong matured as he finished high school, but he needed to go to junior college to become academically eligible for the NCAA. He blossomed at Pierce College in Los Angeles, where Strong lived away from Philadelphia for the first time. Without his mother over his shoulder, Strong paid his rent, cleaned clothes, and cooked food. His grades improved, he became a standout receiver, and college coaches were interested before he even played a game.

Strong spent the last two seasons at Arizona State, totaling 157 catches for 2,287 yards and 17 touchdowns. He's considered one of the top receivers in the draft and is expected to be selected in the first two rounds. He said his Philadelphia roots are apparent in the way he plays, with toughness indigenous to his hometown.

The NFL invited Strong to Chicago for the draft, and Alexis Strong is ready to sit by his side when he's called. Strong's father might have shaped his personality, but his mother shaped him.

"If she got upset, she felt like she couldn't do it - not that she didn't do it," Strong said. "She did everything she could do."

No Plan B

When his name is called, he will reach a point he never doubted. Strong remembers football camps in the Philadelphia area when speakers would tell him less than 1 percent of players make it to the NFL. He figured he was in that 1 percent.

"I never had a Plan B, as bad as it sounds," Strong said. "When you get a Plan B, you don't work as hard toward Plan A."

Strong laughs at the idea, saying he would instruct his own son to have a Plan B. But this is his edge.

His father maintained the same ethos. Rankin used to repeat the phrase "naysayer slayer." Strong and Wilson now use it when talking to each other.

"He's going to prove that he can do it - that's from his father," Wilson said.

On Monday morning, days before Strong's life was about to change, his grandfather was in the kitchen, cooking SpaghettiOs and salmon cakes. Wilson discussed Strong's draft-night suit. Alexis Strong's phone kept buzzing with calls from well-wishers.

"You don't do it for yourself; you do it for the other people who got you there," Strong said. "You do it for your mom. You do it for your dad. You do it for those people. It's never about you."

Strong stood shirtless and revealed the tattoos that cover his body. On the top of his back is "Alexis," with her favorite flower.

"If anybody's got my back," Strong said, "I know my mom does."

On his chest is his father's name, which was the first one Strong had etched on his skin. If he lifted his pant leg, it would reveal a tattoo of his father's face with homages to West Catholic and Drexel.

"He's taken every step with me," Strong said.

Then, there are the tattoos on his left biceps of Philadelphia's skyline, the LOVE sculpture, and the Sixers' "76" script.

Maybe the Eagles will pick Strong this week. Maybe he will go elsewhere.

Wherever he is, he can look at his body and know where his story started.

"Reminds me where I came from," Strong said, "no matter where I'm at."