Junior Colson

Colson was born in Mirebalais, Haiti. His father died when he was seven years old, and he was placed in an orphanage in Port-au-Prince operated by his uncle. At age eight, he met Americans Steve and Melanie Colson who visited Haiti on a church mission after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. He was adopted by the Colsons and, after a lengthy adoption and immigration process, moved to Tennessee at age nine in May 2012.[1][2][3] He recalled that, on arriving at the airport in the United States, "The first thing I saw in America was a Michigan hat. That's what all of my family members were wearing, they're big Michigan fans."[4]

Colson grew up speaking Haitian Creole and learned English only after moving to Tennessee. He also grew up playing soccer and took up American football in Tennessee.[1] He attended Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee, where he played football on defense and as a kick returner. He was rated as one of the top players in Tennessee and one of the top linebacker recruits.[5]

Colson met Michigan Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh at a camp in Kentucky and was offered a scholarship to play football. He enrolled at Michigan in 2021 and started seven games as a true freshman for the 2021 Michigan Wolverines football team, totaled 61 tackles (fourth most on the team), and was selected as a freshman All-American.[5][6]

As a sophomore, Colson led the 2022 Michigan Wolverines football team with 80 tackles.[7] At the end of the season, he was selected by the conference coaches as a second-team linebacker on the All-Big Ten team.[8]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Junior Colson.

• Big Ten Network video feature on Junior Colson
• Michigan Wolverines bio