‘I can’t fail in her eyes:’ Mother’s note inspires Mizzou Tiger during injury recovery

Ennis Rakestraw Jr. tried not to cry as Missouri football staffers carted him off the field.

It was an Oct. 5 practice, and the Tigers cornerback had just suffered a torn right ACL. But when he FaceTimed his mom, Shamika Jones, tears poured out.

“He just broke down on me,” Jones said.

Jones and Rakestraw’s stepfather, Walter Quigley Jr., flew to Columbia from West Dallas to be with Rakestraw for the surgery. They stayed for two days, but when Jones arrived back home, she could tell from her son’s voice that something wasn’t right.

Rakestraw wasn’t eating or taking his pain medicine. His entire routine was off. So, after only a few days at home, Jones hopped right back on a plane to Columbia.

Her son needed her.

“It’s been a while since me and him have had that time to be together. He was able to see this is my love, this is my support,” Jones said. “In the midst of this trial, I enjoyed the fact that I was able to nurture him like he was a kid. At his weakest moment, I was there. Maybe just a reinforcement that your mom really loves you. (He could see that) at my lowest, if I do not have anyone else, I know I have my parents, I know I have my family.”

Jones helped him start a medicine log and bought a microwave to make cooking easier. She planned to stay for one week — or as long as Rakestraw wanted. It turned out he needed only two days.

“He seemed better,” Jones said. “He was getting it together and pushing through the pain.”

Jones gave birth to Rakestraw three days before her 16th birthday. Her first-born son weighed fewer than six pounds and spent nine days in the ICU with pneumonia.

Jones didn’t attend college. Rakestraw was her everything, and she dedicated her time to support him. And he taught her everything about being a mother.

“My mom lived this life through me,” he said. “I can’t fail in her eyes. That’s who I’m doing it for.”

Rakestraw made a promise to himself in high school that his mom would not have to pay for college. The Duncanville product starred on the football field, earning scholarship offers from historic programs like Alabama and Texas. But much to coach Eli Drinkwitz’s pleasure, Rakestraw chose Missouri, the first Power Five school to offer him a scholarship. The Tigers coach sprinted around the team’s facility when he learned of the cornerback’s commitment, whooping and hugging his assistants.

Rakestraw started all 10 games as a true freshman for the Tigers. He made 24 tackles and recorded a team-best six passes defended.

But Missouri’s defense struggled in his sophomore campaign, allowing more than 33 points per game, second worst in the SEC.

In the second game of the season, Rakestraw injured his leg against Kentucky. For weeks, he played through the pain, wanting to help his team during a difficult defensive stretch.

But Rakestraw felt weak. In a 62-24 loss against Tennessee, he tried to chase down running back Tiyon Evans for an open-field tackle. When he couldn’t and Evans reached the end zone for a 92-yard touchdown, he realized something really wasn’t right. Later in the game, Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. scampered through the Missouri defense for a 35-yard touchdown. Rakestraw stopped running before Jones reached the end zone.

“Everybody was just bashing me for that,” said Rakestraw, who responded to the critics in a since-deleted tweet “I’m like, ‘They don’t understand what’s going on with me right now.’”

Three days later, a clean tear of his right ACL during a coverage drill in practice ended his season. The medical staff told Rakestraw and Drinkwitz at the same time. Rakestraw told Drinkwitz that he just wanted to go to his apartment. The coach said that was OK, but left him with a message: “The one thing I want you not to do is separate yourself from the team. No matter what, you’re an influence. You might not feel it, but you’re an influence.”

While Rakestraw’s presence on the sideline may have been a source of inspiration for his teammates, he was hurting inside. Jones felt her son’s pain. While in Columbia, she secretly took some of Rakestraw’s medical tape and put a note on his bathroom mirror.

“Son, I know it’s going to be hard days ahead but keep pushing for me! I love you and I know you got it!! Head up and chest out young bull,” the note read.

When Rakestraw took a shower after she left, he saw it.

“I’m just looking from a distance and I went and read it and I just smiled like the biggest smile,” he said.

“I was trying to make it as simple as possible, but really leave an impact on him,” Jones said. “I wanted him to see that I knew there were going to be mornings ahead that he wouldn’t feel like getting out of bed. Even though I couldn’t be there, I knew that would help press him forward.”

Rakestraw never mentioned the note to Jones, and she only realized its impact when Rakestraw posted a TikTok in April that documented his journey. The post gained more than 290,000 views.

When Rakestraw moved into a different apartment this summer, he quickly attached his mom’s words to his new mirror. He plans to keep it forever.

“When my mom, the person who had me and cared for me, says something like that and she has full confidence that I’m going to be back to who I am, that’s all I needed,” Rakestraw said. Those words of encouragement were all I needed to get up and do what I had to do.”

Now, with preseason camp in full swing, Rakestraw is back and feeling stronger than he did before his injury. While Rakestraw was recovering, Kris Abrams-Draine enjoyed a breakout season, and the two could form a solid cornerback pairing.

But Rakestraw isn’t looking ahead to Missouri’s season opener against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 1. He’s appreciating each day as they come.

“I always play with a chip on my shoulder, but understanding that now I’m a snap away from maybe not playing this game again or being seriously injured, it’s going to make me cherish every play even harder,” he said. “I’m going to cherish every play. I’m going to make sure I do everything and give an extra effort even when I feel like I don’t have it any more.”

As his mom wrote: Head up and chest out.