Like mother, like son: Penn State LB Jason Cabinda driven to succeed

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Natalie Cabinda didn’t want to miss any part of her children’s lives and her youngest, Penn State sophomore linebacker Jason Cabinda, literally kept her running in circles.

Needing to take Jason from practice to practice while Natalie worked two jobs and took care of three children as a single parent, she would jog around the track outside of New Jersey’s Hunterdon Central High School, mixing exercise with keeping an eye on her son’s football practice.

“I still don’t understand how I am here talking to you,” Natalie says with a laugh. “I used to get so exhausted I thought I was going to die. He was super active.”

As driven as her outgoing son was, wanting to play every sport and seemingly asking questions about everything, so too was Natalie, who came to the United States from Cameroon in 1994 and said she was determined to give all of her children opportunities she never had.

“When you’re from another country, this is not just like moving from Mexico to the U.S.,” she said. “This is moving across two oceans, moving across several continents. It’s a long journey and I’m here by myself. I don’t have my mom or my sisters or brothers, I’m the only one here so my children have been my family.”

Jason’s two older sisters were born in Cameroon and the family moved to California where Jason was born in 1996. Next it was off to Charlottesville, Va., for two years before settling in New Jersey in 2001. Jason went from flag football to pee-wee football to basketball and lacrosse, keeping mom and son close as they kept hectic schedules and forged plenty of fond memories along the way.

“My mom is a saint,” Jason, Penn State’s starting middle linebacker, said. “She’s really sacrificed the most. It sounds cliche, the whole ‘I really wouldn’t be here without her,’ but it’s the absolute truth. ... That’s my rock. She’s really everything for me.”

Natalie works in the heart of Rutgers country teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) at a high school in Piscataway, N.J., in the day, then she teaches college academic writing part time at night. She attends all Jason’s games, wearing a No. 40 jersey with the family’s last name on the back. She exchanges text messages at the very least with her son daily.

She gets nervous for him, too. Take a recent news conference in Penn State’s media room, for example. Jason sat in front of about 25 reporters and answered questions with ease. Natalie, following along on social media, said her knees were shaking, but she knew he has always been at ease in front of a crowd.

“I’ve just always been a very social person,” Jason said. “(I’m) the kind of guy who can walk into a place where I don’t know anybody and within a half hour or so I have a good feel for everybody in the room.”

Natalie says it’s the positive communication between mother and son that allows them to stay close, and it’s Jason’s communication skills with his teammates that have him holding his own after being thrust into calling the defense from the middle linebacker position.

“Jason is a man,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “Jason is playing really well. He’s very mature. He’s leading very well. I think Jason has a chance to be really good. He’s doing everything right. Got some great messages. His mom direct messages me all the time. She’s a sweet lady.”

With Jason away at college and his sisters grown, Natalie’s schedule finally settled down. But just like her son, don’t expect her to sit still anytime soon.

She wrote a book due out at the end of this month that aims to help families regroup, refocus and rebuild all the skills the Cabinda family is using to thrive.

“Jason is my hero when it comes to work ethic,” she said.

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