Hiram Clarke is an area in Houston, Texas. It takes shape of a triangle from U.S. Route 90A, to Hiram Clarke Road and Beltway 8. Reaching two miles in any which direction, this area is infested with crime, but is rich with football talent. The Tennessee Titans 2006 Rookie of the Year Vince Young and emerging star wide receiver Jeremiah Eaton are two notable figures from the area.
Jeremiah Eaton’s humble beginnings in Hiram Clarke brought him to the ultimate reality check at Valley City State University in North Dakota. A week before Christmas break, a friend noticed a lump on his neck. Jeremiah wasn’t alarmed. “Oh, it’s nothing, probably a swollen gland,” said Jeremiah. While back home in Hiram Clarke for winter break, Jeremiah’s mother urged him to see a doctor. It was then that an ultrasound and biopsy revealed that the seemingly healthy and ambitious student-athlete might have more than just a virus.
For a couple months Jeremiah was able to ignore the voice inside his head. The voice that told him something was wrong. That spring break, his parents drove from Texas to North Dakota to give him the news. Jeremiah had stage two Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Cancer. It’s a cancer that attacks your lymph nodes and immune system. With his world flipped upside down, Jeremiah traveled back to Texas to fight the battle of his life. “I was medically discharged from school the next day,” said Jeremiah. “I went home to start treatments and plans for beating this disease.”
As his treatments began, he lost his football scholarship at Valley City State but that only inspired him more. “It charged me up,” said Jeremiah. One lower back bone marrow biopsy, two neck surgeries and countless hours of chemotherapy, he managed to sneak workouts between treatments and doctor’s visits. The passion that made him a blue-chip football recruit pushed him to defeat the monster fighting his body. “Hard work is instilled in my DNA,” said Jeremiah. “My motivation was my family and my community.”
Jeremiah’s football playing career fell into place after defeating cancer. “I never left the game,” said Jeremiah, “Watching film, looking at games and training videos to keep my mind focused on the main goal, which was getting back on the field.” His dedication didn’t go unnoticed as McMurry University and Wayland Baptist University both gave him an opportunity to play again.
Jeremiah’s stint at McMurry was short and sweet. Only spending the 2014 season with the program, compiling 50 total receiving yards. He then decided to transfer to Wayland Baptist University to complete his collegiate career. As a senior in 2017, Jeremiah started all 10 games finishing with 431 total receiving yards. His 149-yard performance against Southwest Assemblies of God set a new Pioneer receiving record. Concluding the season, Jeremiah was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player with running back De’Sean Johnson.
The cancer survivor’s football story continues to write itself. The Omaha Beef arena football team in the Champions Indoor Football league signed Jeremiah to a contract for the 2018 season.
His big break came on March 10, 2018. In his first football game as a professional, Jeremiah caught five passes for 32 yards. Including three from his cousin John Gibbs. “We’ve been trying to get that connection together since high school,” said Gibbs. “We’ve always talked about it. To get that to work today, it was a blessing.”
As a rookie, Jeremiah has established himself as a premier wide receiver on the field and a natural leader off. “I feel blessed to be in the position that I am, through all the trials and tribulations that I’ve been through. Happy to be here and it’s now or never,” said Jeremiah.
A piece of Hiram Clarke now resides in Omaha, Nebraska, as the Omaha Beef begin their 2018 season and their hopeful journey back to the Champions Bowl. Jeremiah said, “I grind for my family, my neighborhood and just to be an inspiration and a visible voice that you cannot give up on yourself.”
Written by Harrison Popp
Photo by Gerald Glaza (Geraldography)
