RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — It’s not every day a reserve linebacker inspires a painting, but not every reserve linebacker is the grandson of a reggae legend.
Nico Marley is the grandson of revolutionary musical artist Bob Marley. He is also the son of Rohan Marley, who played football at the University of Miami and in Canada before founding Marley Coffee.
With those three Marley men in mind, Henrico artist Jeromyah Jones got to work. He painted an oil-on-canvas piece that combines the images of Bob, Rohan, and Nico Marley. He also composed a spoken word poem.
Friday morning, Jones presented both the painting and the poem to Marley at the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center. Nico Marley is a college free agent in his first year out of Tulane who is trying to make the Redskins’ 53-man roster or practice squad. Washington signed him this spring after the NFL Draft.
Jones believes Nico is cut from the same cloth as his famous father and grandfather, and he believes the younger Marley will succeed as they did. Jones, whose father Jerome inspired him with a love of painting and Bob Marley, believes he and Nico are similar, since each is continuing the legacy of their fathers.
See the whole poem and the video of the presentation below.
