RICHMOND, Va. – It was just a white canvas in June, but as Jeromyah Jones told News 3 on June 23rd, “The beauty is in the final product.” The son of Norfolk native Jerome Jones had been working on a piece for Redskins linebacker Nico Marley for a couple of months.
The “National Free Lion” painting
Marley is the son of former University of Miami linebacker Rohan Marley, and the grandson of the late Bob Marley.
On the second day of Redskins training camp, the Richmond-based painting duo presented the finished piece called the “National Free Lion” or NFL for short to Marley.
Jeromyah Jones, a Hampton grad paints a picture of the Marley family
“He showed me something that wasn’t finished, and I thought it looked awesome,” said Marley. Using gestures to show levels, Marley said “I thought it was going to be here, but he brought it all the way up here!”
Many have talked about the lineage that Nico has in his family but according to him, it’s never been illustrated this way. “This is a first,” he said. “This set the bar.”
The two have created several pieces that portray athletes in a different light, with a significant meaning behind each piece. They have traveled from coast to coast presenting these pieces that are all a part of the “Ingenious Athletic Minds” series they’ve created.
