How fatherhood, family saved Kris Moncrief's football career with Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

A smile is a simple gesture.

Depending on the source, that smile, while innocuous, packs layers of transformational emotion behind it.

Kannon Moncrief peers up and gleams each morning as his dad enters his view. He’s five months, so his smile is instinctual yet radiates unfettered love and happiness.

For his dad, Kris, there hasn’t been a more perfect way to start each day than seeing his son’s wide smile.

Those moments have already changed his life.

Scared as hell

Moncrief was geared up to turn the page and start fresh last year for his junior season for Louisiana football, as preseason practice kicked off the following day. It was Aug. 3, his longtime girlfriend Jazlynne Sonnier’s birthday, and the two had a dinner planned to celebrate.

During dinner, Sonnier mentioned some symptoms she had recently been experiencing and thought it’d be a good idea to take a pregnancy test once they returned home later that evening.

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The test came back positive and while both wanted a family, the news came earlier than expected.

“The day before practiced started last season,” Moncrief recalled. “I was scared as hell. How am I gonna tell my momma? Should I call her, should I wait? I sent her a text, apologized and told her she’s about to be a grandmother, that I have a child on the way.

“It was a frightening moment because we 100 percent were not prepared. But things happen, life happens, and you have to handle the situation accordingly.”

Scared herself, Sonnier said the nerves subsided in a few weeks and both her and Moncrief were excited about the prospect of being parents.

“I knew that he would be the best dad,” Sonnier said. “I honestly can’t imagine going through this with no one else. Kris is so caring, and loving, and always put himself last when it comes to us.

“That didn’t scare me at all. I knew he’d be great.”

A little more than seven months later, Kannon was born. The new parents may not have been fully prepared for what could come, but they had each other and for them, nothing mattered more than their new family of three.

'She’s my backbone'

Moncrief, a native of Raleigh, Mississippi, burst onto the scene for the Cajuns during his sophomore year in 2019 with 5.5 sacks, nine tackles-for-loss and was a mainstay at one of the outside linebacker positions.

But a shift to inside linebacker in 2020 had Moncrief spinning. Having grown accustomed since his high school days of being a key contributor, the 6-foot-1, 243-pound linebacker saw a dramatic dip in his production and as a result, his playing time shrunk. He recorded one tackle-for-loss in 2020.

Moncrief was frustrated.

“In my head it ruined me. I wasn’t used to it. I could never figure out why, I felt like I was wrong. Am I the reason I couldn’t play as much?” Moncrief said.

“I broke down. I’m hard on myself about being a perfectionist and I take that to my heart every day. Just being a professional and trying to do everything the right way. It hurt me to my soul.”

Things got so bad for Moncrief that he considered walking away from football. He would come home after practice each day, angry, Sonnier remembered.

“It was really rough. Kris would come home mad all the time. It’s not me, and I did get it at times,” Sonnier said. “I would just tell him when he would tell me (about his struggles) to just pray. Do what you have to do to get it out.

“Troubles don’t last forever. I know Kris loves football. I would tell him to don’t give up and stay head strong.”

Moncrief leaned on Sonnier's words of encouragement.

He responded with not only a greater perspective but fatherhood pushed him to where he was before on the football field.

“She’s really the reason I’m still here today. There were times when I broke down, crying to her because I didn’t know if I was finished with football or not. She’s one of the reasons I’m still here,” Moncrief said.

“I told myself I have to get back on track, get back to the old Moncrief. Let’s get back to playing the (air) guitar, having fun and playing football. There were things I worked out, praying to God and Jazlynne helping me out.”

Kannon made him who he is

The same day he opened preseason practice for his final season, Moncrief graduated from UL.

At 22, he accomplished something no one else in his family had done before, becoming a college graduate. Moncrief’s family is close, glued together by his father, Reginald and mother, Kimberly, along with his older brother Kadarrius Cameron and younger sister, Briah.

Now a father himself, Kannon has  been at the forefront of everything Moncrief does.

“A goal I intended on making before football I’m trying to have a good education first. I just had my first son, so I’m trying to set the example for him also,” Moncrief said. “It’s sacrifices. You have to make sacrifices and I feel like I’ll make a sacrifice for him any day.

“My father was heavy on family. We’re going to be a stand-up family, handle business the right way. He drilled that in my head, and I feel like it’s only right I carry that over to my family.”

Sonnier talks about seeing a  happy Moncrief as he lifts up their smiling son.

“It definitely makes me happy to see he’s happy. I know it means to world to Kris and when he gets home from a long day, it warms my heart to see them together,” Sonnier said. “I never thought in a million years I’d have a great person like Kris. I had never met anyone like Kris and having a child with him is amazing.”

And every day, it starts with Kannon’s smile. Moncrief is back to his old self, playing air guitar after getting a sack and having the most fun playing football he’s ever had.

That reassurance, that motivation all stares back up at Moncrief every morning in Kannon’s smile.

“I love him to death. He motivates me getting up every morning with a smile,” Moncrief said. “That motivates me every day to come work harder in everything I do, no matter the circumstances. If my son is watching me, I’m going as hard as I can.

“As long as Kannon’s smiling, happy and taken care of, nothing else matters to me.”

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football: Family saved Kris Moncrief's football career