BOWLING GREEN — The tone instantly told Jamari Bozeman that something was wrong.
When he answered a December phone call from his father, Jarrod, Jamari was on campus at Bowling Green, an unseasonably warm day as the fall semester neared its end.
The next few minutes — and the next week to come — were a blur, but he vividly remembers answering the phone. Jarrod did not greet Jamari as he normally did, and even though Jamari was more than 1,000 miles from his Florida home, he felt a sinking feeling.
There had been shots at his older brother’s apartment complex in Boynton Beach, Fla. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene, but they were too late. At age 24, Jarrod Jermaine Bozeman, Jr., was gone.
“I knew something was up — but I didn’t know it was that bad,” Jamari said. “Once he told me, my heart just dropped and it felt like the world just ended.”
The boys have different mothers but were always close, even by sibling standards, and especially after Jamari left home to play football for Bowling Green.
As children, they always were playing football in the yard or on the street. Jamari immediately wanted anything his brother had, from dirt bikes to the hot pair of shoes. If his brother scored two touchdowns in a game, Jamari had to score three in his.
The boys told each other from a young age that one day they were going to make their late grandmother proud — some way, some how.
As he drove to the hospital in December, Jarrod Bozeman’s first thoughts were of his son as a little boy, who was a junior but went by his middle name, usually shortened to Maine or Lil Maine.
He recalled one of his favorite pictures, when the family went to Chuck E. Cheese for Jamari’s birthday, and shortly before the camera came out, big brother’s hands were in little brother’s cake.
But everything changed so quickly during a night that felt like an awful dream. After the pronouncement from medical personnel that Maine was gone, Jarrod called to Bowling Green to deliver the tragic news.
“Truthfully, he helped by being strong,” Jarrod said of Jamari. “He didn’t really break down at that time or anything like that. He was really more concerned about me, and I’m worried about him.”
It was the type of call you hear about. Never the one you expect to receive.
“Where I’m from, it’s common for people to die from gun violence,” Jamari said, “but you never think it would happen to you.”
Authorities arrested two men who both admitted to opening fire because of a dispute over a drug transaction. Federal authorities charged both with multiple felonies, including causing the death of a person while committing a crime. A trial is scheduled for 2021.
In one way, the situation is finished, but in another, it never will be. Jarrod said he can’t bring his son back, and the court system will not change that.
Jamari fondly remembers his brother’s easy sense of humor and his dream of becoming a tattoo artist, which he did on a freelance basis and was beginning to take more seriously. Jamari planned on buying his brother a studio after he went professional, and told him as much.
What especially hurt the family was that they believed that Maine was on the precipice of leaving his former life behind.
“He kind of got it, like, it’s real out here,” Jarrod said. “But sometimes you get in this position where it’s hard. It’s hard to get away from certain people, especially when you’re working and trying to do what’s right, but certain people pull you away.”
Following the funeral, Jamari returned to Bowling Green for the spring semester completely rededicated to football.
It has been a rocky road at BGSU for Jamari, who leaned on his brother during tough times. After being named All-Mid-American Conference third team as a true sophomore, Jamari suffered a career-threatening hip injury that cost him all of 2017. He lost weight during the recovery, and was a lean 170 pounds in 2018, an underweight frame he believes led to a back injury.
It was frustrating to the point that Jamari wasn’t sure he wanted to keep playing football, but his brother was always a phone call away, telling him to stick with it, a message that means so much to him now.
“Even during bad times in practice or when I’m tired in practice,” Jamari said, “I tell myself, ‘You gotta do it for Maine. You gotta do it for his mama, and my mama, and our daddy. You gotta do it for our brothers and sisters.’”
Now at a svelte 190 pounds after throwing himself into offseason conditioning, Jamari has started every game for the Falcons this year. He leads the team in pass breakups and is third in tackles, and he’s one of the most beloved teammates on the roster.
Jerry McBride III, the Falcons’ other starting safety, said Jamari’s dedication after tragedy drew the attention and respect of his teammates.
“We were supporting him when everything happened, but just to see the way he bounced back, that shows leadership,” McBride said. “That shows how to be a man. It’s deeper than football; it’s life.
“We feel like he reacted in a positive and respectable way, and there’s nothing you can do but respect that.”
First-year Falcons coach Scot Loeffler said the only thing he wishes he could change about Jamari is his age.
“I wish he was a freshman and I wish I had him four years in the program because he is a 100 percent, all-on-board, real dude,” Loeffler said. “We need more of him. He epitomizes what we’re trying to get done here and he’s one of my favorite guys, hands down.”
Watching Jamari play now, Jarrod said he sees how much his son has grown up. He was already proud, he said, but this season has just added to it.
“That makes me feel good, and it lets me know that he can handle it and he’s growing up,” Jarrod said. “He’s become a man.”
Jamari carries a button with his brother’s image on his backpack, and his picture sits on a dresser in his room. He still talks to Maine when he’s feeling down, but now he’s playing for him, too.
Every time Jamari pulls on his helmet and runs onto the turf at Doyt Perry Stadium, he’s doing so for something bigger than himself.
His brother believed in him so ardently that Jamari said there’s no slacking now.
“Once that happened, I told myself that my brother always told me he was proud of me for playing football, so I have to keep going as long as I can: for him,” Jamari said. “Before I touch the field, I tell him I’m doing it for him every time.”
First Published October 4, 2019, 8:13 p.m.
