For D'Andre Swift's mom, Eagles-Vikings game extra special: "Everything just fell into place"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Behind every great football player is usually a football mom, who is a cheerleader, a coach and in Philadelphia Eagles running back D'Andre Swift's case, a prayer warrior.
Swift had a forgetful Eagles debut in Week 1, but the St. Joe's Prep product will get another opportunity to make an impression Thursday night in the Birds' home opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
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"We always pray before a game," Ayanna Holloway Swift said. "To give him the good energy, give God the glory."
Ayanna Holloway Swift, the mother of the Eagles' running back, said God is at the center of her son's success.
Swift's No. 1 fan said she was sitting in the stands as she watched her son take on the New England Patriots.
"I actually shed a couple of tears before the game started," Ayanna said, "because it was so surreal. It actually just did a full circle."
Ayanna spoke with CBS News Philadelphia ahead of her son's first-ever game in his hometown.
"Oh, D'Andre, I knew he was special the first game I saw him play in," she said. "I would say, D'Andre was 6 or 7 years old and he just knew what to do with the ball."
Swift's football career started at an early age, playing in the Pop Warner league for the Enon Eagles in Mount Airy. He eventually broke every record at St. Joe's Prep, but it wasn't easy being a student-athlete.
"Homework could take anywhere from four to five hours depending on what time you start," Ayanna said, "but the football practice was right after school."
It's also where this Philly kid made a name for himself. Some of his youngest fans and Prep students are racking up Swift jerseys.
"D'Andre loves younger kids," Ayanna said. "He gives them words of encouragement, so they can take it back with them."
From his days playing college football at the University of Georgia to his first stop in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, Ayanna secretly knew her son would one day come home and play for the Eagles, the team her late father Henry used to watch with D'andre.
"D'Andre carries him close to him," Ayanna said. "I did not notice this until the championship they won with St. Joe's Prep. I noticed it when I went on to hug D'Andre, who wrote on his tape, 'RIP, Pop-pop.' He says, 'I do it all the time,' and I never knew that."
For this family, football is more than a sport. Although his grandfather died in 2005, Swift's dad was right there when he received the call that he'd be suiting up for his hometown team.
"Everything just fell into place," Ayanna said, "and you're like, 'Wow, God, thank you."