Derek Jeter says becoming a dad put 'things in perspective'

If you’re a sports fan, you know the name Derek Jeter. And if you’re a Derek Jeter fan, you probably know he’s heavily involved in the Turn 2 Foundation, which he founded in 1996 to motivate young people to turn away from drugs and alcohol and “Turn 2” healthy lifestyles.

Jeter’s father, Dr. Charles Jeter, was a drug and alcohol abuse counselor who helped many people overcome substance abuse, inspiring Jeter to create the foundation with him.

As part of his work with the foundation, the New York Yankees legend returned to his hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan, earlier this month to unveil new baseball and softball fields for young athletes at Kalamazoo Central High School — a meaningful place where he grew his love for the game.

The new fields were made possible through his Turn 2 Foundation and Cal Ripken Jr.’s nonprofit, Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. The two Baseball Hall of Famers celebrated the milestone with local students and community members during a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Jeter tells TODAY.com, “When I got a chance to come visit my family I said, you know, we have to renovate these fields. Because I grew up basically right next to them. I jumped the fence and would go to my high school fields to practice with my parents. And I said, ‘We need to renovate these fields.’

“So this has been a long, long process to get to where we are now,” he continued. “We actually would have done it a few years ago. But once again, COVID delayed things.”

The new fields are just one of the many initiatives Jeter has pushed for in the nearly three decades the Turn 2 Foundation has existed. Although he was actively playing in the major leagues for most of that time, Jeter says he’s always been deeply involved in the organization, adding, “I wanted something that I could continue after my playing career.”

Jeter is famously a family-oriented person and says that remains a focus of his community-oriented philanthropic efforts.

“I think when you play you have that platform … for me, for my family, our legacy is what we can do in the community. And we wanted to continue that post-playing career,” he says. “So it’s something that means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family. And we’ll continue it as long as we can get the support that we’ve gotten throughout the years, and we’ve been fortunate because we’ve gotten a lot of support.”

After retiring in 2014, Jeter dove right into new ventures. He co-founded The Players' Tribune and was an executive with the Miami Marlins organization, where he hired Kim Ng as the first-ever female general manager in the four major North American professional men’s sports leagues.

Earlier this year he became a baseball analyst for Fox, and to the surprise and excitement of many, Jeter made his social media debut in May 2022 with the creation of his X and Instagram accounts.

During his 20 years in the major leagues, Jeter was known as an extremely private and buttoned-up player. He never shared more than he wanted to, setting firm boundaries with the media. Because social media doesn’t seem like the place for someone who has spent most of their adulthood protecting their privacy, Jeter says he’s still figuring out what sides of himself he shares, on his own terms.

“It’s not the most comfortable. It doesn’t cross my mind on a daily basis (to) share something on social media. … I think it’s a great platform to share a lot of things that you’re doing, especially from a business standpoint ... but then I also understand people want to see another side of you.

"So I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m getting more comfortable.”

One area of his life in which Jeter is certainly comfortable is being a girl dad. In 2016, Jeter married Hannah Jeter (formerly Davis) and together they’ve welcomed four children: Bella Raine, 6; Story Grey; 4, River Rose, 1; and son Kaius, whom they welcomed last May.

Jeter says fatherhood “gives a new perspective on what’s most important.”

He adds, “Through my career, I was always very selfish, because it was all about me. … And then once I retired and got married and had kids, it really put things in perspective.”

He says, “Kids are leaders not only in their schools, but in their communities. And I think there’s just another level of importance that you realize, when you start having a family of your own.”

Even though his oldest daughter is only 6, Jeter says he's excited for the day she can be involved in the Turn 2 Foundation. What that involvement will look like, Jeter isn’t entirely sure, but he wants his kids to be able to have the same positive feelings that he experiences when he gives back to his community.

Jeter adds that he believes kids should experience that “as young as possible.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com