Van Jefferson's Wife Goes into Labor During Super Bowl

She cheered her husband on up until the very last second — only leaving the stadium on a stretcher before giving birth to their first son

As all eyes on Sunday night were on SoFi Stadium to see who would become this year’s Super Bowl champions, Los Angeles Rams’ Van Jefferson knew that behind the scenes, it was his wife who was the real MVP. She gave birth to their second child that night — but managed to hold off on delivering him until after the 25-year-old wide receiver’s team won.

Samaria Jefferson was at the stadium cheering on her husband — who made four catches during the game — but went into labor mid-way through, according to ABC News. And although their first son was due on Feb. 17, he decided that he couldn’t wait to congratulate dad on his big win and came early.

Just hours after the Rams won, Jefferson posted a picture on Instagram sharing the biggest news of the night: a photo of him beaming while cradling his newborn son as he did skin-to-skin with him. “X2!!!!!,” he captioned the sweet snapshot. Jefferson and Samaria, who are high school sweethearts, are also the proud parents of a 5-year-old daughter.

“It was a great day, bro. I got three prizes today — my wife, my son and the Super Bowl,” Jefferson said during an Instagram Live, according to ESPN. And NFL GameDay shared a video of Jefferson rushing out of the stadium after the game to get to his wife’s side as soon as he could.

Last week, Samaria spoke to The Athletic about the possibility of this exact scenario unfolding and how she’d want it to play out. She revealed that she was praying it wouldn’t happen but if her son was determined to score a Super Bowl LVI birthday and she went into labor on game day, she instructed people not to tell her husband until after. “I said, ‘You play, I’ll see you at the hospital afterwards.’ That’s what it is. I will never take that moment away from him. I want to see him glorify God on the field that day,” she said. “Just like any other game, I’m going to be there this Sunday and I’m going to stay calm … and pray to God my water doesn’t break. I will be 40 weeks pregnant at the Super Bowl, supporting my husband 100 percent.”

And she did exactly that — up until the very last second, not leaving the stadium until she was wheeled out via stretcher after going into labor amid the nerves and excitement for her husband — like the true badass teammate she is.