COCOA, Fla. – From his high school to the police department, Cocoa is celebrating 24-year-old Jamel Dean, its first student athlete to play in and win the Super Bowl.
The city’s Deputy Mayor Alex Goins is also a youth football coach. He said he’s known the Bucs cornerback since he was 6 or 7-years-old.
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“Jamel is a light for all of us to shine bright and to have somebody from a small place like Cocoa, 20,000 residents, it’s a beautiful thing, for me personally, and also for all the youth that we have in this community, as well,” Goins said.
To further recognize the cornerback, Tuesday night Goins will ask the city council to award Dean a key to the city.
Dean would be the first person to be honored this way in four years.
And since it’s officially “Jamel Dean Week” at Cocoa High, Goins will also ask the council to proclaim a “Jamel Dean Day” at a future date across the entire city.
“Every time you Google ‘Jamel Dean’, you’re going to see Cocoa, Florida on top of it so we have to do something special for him,” Goins said. “Also, that will be good for the kids to see somebody that’s 23, 24-years-old getting a key to the city. It gives everybody that motivation, especially young people,” Goins continued.
The discussion starts Tuesday night at city hall at 6 p.m.
News 6 will update you how the city continues to honor its hometown Super Bowl champion.