Athletes have long been thought to be nothing more than “a dumb jock”
But many have shown their prowess not only on the field of play but at other endeavours as well.
New York Jets defensive end Juwon Briggs is a giant on the field at 313 pounds. But once his playing days are over, Briggs is sure to have no difficulty in finding a job.
Recently, his teammates learned that Briggs has an incredible singing voice, but that isn’t all….he is a one man ensemble.
Like Prince and Sir Paul McCartney, Briggs can play some dozen different musical instruments
Briggs says, “it’s just one of those things. Like I always say, everybody’s got something. I just happen to be a musical guy.”
Briggs list of musical virtuosity includes the recorder, piano, violin, viola, cello, stand-up bass, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, saxophone, flute, and harmonica. He has also tinkered around with the drum kit but Briggs doesn’t consider that as one of the instruments he can play.
Teammate defensive tackle Jay tufele spoke on Briggs saying, “I’ve never seen anybody who could play as many instruments and be so gifted vocally. He’s a beast on the field and off.”
A native of Cincinnati, Briggs is one of six children – four girls and two boys – of a family who loves music and sports; and approaching each with equal vigor.
Speaking on his upbringing, Briggs said, “with music, I’d probably say it started from the womb. I always say I kind of got the trickle-down effect. They’ve all been singing, dancing, acting and playing sports since before I was even thought of, so I kind of just fell into a musical household.”
T”here were times one sibling would start playing an instrument, another would join, someone would start singing and then another would harmonize.“
“We had a very loud house. It was kind of like ‘Battle of the Bands.’ It was a lot of fun. My sisters all sing better than I can, but if you grow up in that kind of competitive household, you find out if you can sing or not fairly quickly. So I was able to figure out that I was decent.”
Briggs began his musical training in kindergarten with the recorder; then came the piano, and by second grade he had added a third instrument with the violin. “That’s where my love for string instruments started,” he said. And he added the viola and cello.
A creative arts school added singing and acting to the repertoire and in high school he played the lead role in “Ragtime”. Then came the bass guitar.
Briggs calls the bass guitar, “it’s my favorite all the way. And I just picked up a new one.”
Then he added the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, saxophone, flute, and harmonica.
And somewhere along the way, Briggs has honed his skills on the football field; going on to be one of the top defensive players in Ohio and earning a defensive player of the year as a high school senior.
Briggs says, “compared to singing a solo on stage, being on a football field might as well be like a walk in a loud park.”
Briggs attended the University of Virginia for his first two years of college where he was a physics and music major; and if that wasn’t enough, he was a member of the University Singers, chamber choir, the A Cappella group The Hullabahoos, and sang the National Anthem during some of the basketball games.
After transferring to the Cincinnati where he continued to sing the National Anthem at basketball games and honed his football skills to earn a draft from the Cleveland Browns before being traded to the Jets.
Briggs is married with four children who uses his music to decompress. He has even recorded a number of songs but just hasn’t decided when is the right time to release them.
Right now the focus is football!
Briggs notes, “you can always fall back on your voice. It’s one of them things that shouldn’t go out on you like your legs.”
And, well, maybe performing on a theatrical stage.
Briggs may not brag to his teammates about his musical prowess or wanting to master the five string bass guitar…but he keeps an amp in the car….