Neon green-and-navy blue confetti drifted toward the turf as Tariq “Riq” Woolen scanned the crowd rushing the Levi’s Stadium field, searching for two familiar faces.
When he found them, he didn’t say much. He just pulled them close.
“She was crying, of course,” his father, Jerome Woolen, said of Riq’s mother, Nola Davis. “I was emotional too. … It was just a whole different feeling.”
On Feb. 8, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13, delivering Riq his first Super Bowl title and giving Fort Worth one more reason to look toward a corner of the city that’s quietly produced elite athletes.
For a moment — amid fireworks, cameras, swarming reporters and a roaring crowd — the Super Bowl shrank to something smaller for the Woolen clan: A son. A mother. A father. And, the long road from the Como neighborhood in Fort Worth to the win in Santa Clara, California.
“To see him on that stage, that’s the ultimate stage,” Jerome said. “For any kid that wants to play football, that’s where they want to be. So it was truly a blessing.”
In Como, the victory felt less like a sports milestone and more like a communal one, Jerome said. It’s proof of what can grow from a neighborhood built more than a century ago by working-class Black families determined to create something of their own, he said.
“This community was started by, basically, the domestic workers,” Jerome said. “My mother was a domestic worker.”
A banner celebrating Super Bowl champion Tariq “Riq” Woolen and New England Patriots player Milton Williams stands along Horne Street in Fort Worth’s Como neighborhood, where community pride has followed the Seahawks cornerback since his childhood. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)
His family came from Marshall in East Texas and planted roots in Como, which held through decades of change.
“We’ve seen it through the good parts and the bad parts,” Jerome said.
Now, he believes the neighborhood is moving forward.
“Some people call it gentrification,” he said. “I call it progression.”
In a place that has learned to adapt, he said, kids learn early how to move through the world.
Riq did that long before he became an NFL cornerback, Jerome said.
As a child, Riq played nearly every sport: football, track, basketball, baseball. Jerome introduced him to each with one rule.
“Once you commit to something, you commit to it fully,” he said. “You finish what you started.”
Speed came first for Riq. Then instincts. Then discipline, his father said.
College — not the NFL — was the original goal. Riq attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he developed into a pro prospect before graduating and declaring for the NFL draft in 2022.
Even now, after years of coaching neighborhood teams, Jerome measures success differently than many parents chasing their children’s professional dreams.
“I pitch college to kids,” he said. “I’m a realist about it.”
That approach shaped more than one path to football’s biggest stage.
While Riq was growing up, Jerome coached another future NFL standout: Milton Williams, who spent part of his childhood in Como before his family moved to Crowley.
Williams went on to win a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last season — sacking Patrick Mahomes twice and forcing a fumble in their 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. In March 2025, Williams signed a $104 million contract with the Patriots. On Sunday, the two former Como residents stood on opposite sidelines.
On Jerome’s teams, children are expected to name the school they want to attend.
“I want you to come tomorrow and tell me what college you want to go to,” he tells them. “Or you’re gonna have to find somewhere else to play.”
Student first. Athlete second. For Riq, the message stuck.
Woolen earned a scholarship as a wide receiver before switching positions — a move that helped transform him into one of the NFL’s fastest-rising defensive backs after Seattle selected him in the fifth round of the 2022 draft.
But his father insists the league didn’t change him.
“He’s more mature,” Jerome said. “But what hasn’t changed is he’s still a humble guy — just a big kid having fun.”
His mother saw that same man standing on the field in Santa Clara, older and more mature, but not much different from the kid who played pickup games in the Como Elementary schoolyard.
Nola Davis wears a custom jacket honoring her son, Seattle Seahawks cornerback and Super Bowl champion Tariq “Riq” Woolen, reflecting the family pride surrounding his victory. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)
“A dream come true,” Davis said. “I’m just glad I was there to help him celebrate.”
Back home, the reaction rippled quickly through Como — a neighborhood more accustomed to being discussed for its challenges than its triumphs, Jerome said.
“This whole experience has been something positive for the community,” he said. “A lot of times people hear bad news. So when it’s some good stuff, we want to be known for that too.”
Riq hasn’t forgotten the place that raised him.
When he returns, his father said, the visits follow a familiar pattern: a stop at Como Elementary, time with neighborhood seniors at the community center, photos with kids who now see a path that may feel distant.
After all, Como’s senior citizens are Riq’s strongest prayer base, Jerome adds.
For young athletes watching from Fort Worth, Jerome hopes the lesson is clear.
“That you can accomplish your goals,” he said. “It can be done. It’s not impossible.”
Then he paused.
“But it’s work,” he added. “It’s work and a little luck.”
What’s something football fans don’t know about Riq? Something they won’t see during a broadcast tuned in by 125 million people?
“He’s funny,” Jerome said, smiling. “He’s a nerd.”
He’s got some youth in him, his father said. Maybe that’s fitting.
Because long before the confetti and the Vince Lombardi Trophy, before the draft cards and the primetime broadcasts, Riq was just a kid from Como, learning resilience in a neighborhood that taught him how to adapt, how to finish and how to belong anywhere.
On the sport’s biggest night, he didn’t just help bring a championship to a franchise.
He carried home — Fort Worth and Como — with him.
Before the biggest game of his life, Riq took to social media.
“Appreciate all the love and support from my neighborhood Lake Como, Texas and the City of Fort Worth fr!” Riq posted on Facebook. “It’s a blessing to be able to represent the people where I’m from and my family on one of the biggest stages there is. 🙏🏾One more to go!”
By the numbers: Riq Woolen
2025 season
49 total tackles
39 solo tackles
1 interception
1 forced fumble
12 passes defended
Super Bowl LX
What’s next?
Woolen completed the four-year rookie contract he signed in 2022 and is eligible for free agency this offseason.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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