Ajani Crenshaw received the surprise of a lifetime while attending last Sunday's Bears-Lions game at Soldier Field.
The Zion, Ill., native and student at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss., not only got to watch pregame warmups from the sideline and meet former Bears running back Tarik Cohen—but Cohen presented Crenshaw with two tickets to Super Bowl LX Feb. 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Crenshaw celebrated by jumping up and down and screaming for several minutes before describing the special moment to ChicagoBears.com.
"I don't know how to react," Crenshaw said. "I love this organization. It's my hometown, Chicago. I love the Bears. I'm so excited. Let's go, Chicago Bears!"
Crenshaw was selected to receive the tickets due to his work with Everytown—which bills itself as the largest gun violence prevention organization in America—as well as Capitol Dreamers, a nonprofit organization that he founded that's committed to gun violence prevention through education, advocacy and community action.
At Tougaloo, Crenshaw is a first-generation college student who is majoring in Political Science with a Pre-Law and Public Policy Administration minor. His work spans from grassroots organizing to policy advocacy, and he's had the honor of learning from some of the nation's top legal minds as a Stanford Law School Summer Scholar.
On his LinkedIn profile, Crenshaw states that his passion "lies at the intersection of law, policy and justice—particularly dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline and building safer, more equitable communities for Black and Brown youth.
"Whether I'm hosting a firearm safety forum, leading voter engagement efforts, or collaborating with fellow student leaders," Crenshaw writes, "I approach every opportunity with purpose and a commitment to impact."
Cohen, meanwhile, enjoyed returning to Soldier Field for the first time since he spent four seasons with the Bears from 2017-20 as a running back and first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl return specialist. He currently lives in North Carolina, got engaged to be married in October and has a four-year-old son, Carter.
"I've transitioned into another great phase of my life, probably the best phase I've ever been in," Cohen said. "Being a husband [to be] and father are things that I never imagined would be this rewarding and this much fun."
Cohen is proud of the work that Crenshaw is doing because the former NFL player has been affected by gun violence; his younger brother, Dante, was paralyzed in a 2019 shooting and passed away in a 2022 car accident.
"Gun violence, the City of Chicago faces that a lot, and when I [played] here, I also faced that in my life as well," Cohen said. "People really need other people to step up in their lives when they lose someone or their family is impacted by gun violence.
"The things [Crenshaw] is doing in the community are things that deeply impacted my life as well, and the Bears letting me help make his day was just the most amazing thing. It almost feels like the good old days."
