My cousin was boxing’s fighter of the 1990s and now I’m an NFL rookie with Super Bowl dreams

The Denver Broncos have given Bo Nix a new running back to join him in the backfield – and he has championship pedigree.

RJ Harvey was selected by the Broncos in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and has brought with him strong family ties.

This is because his cousin is former American professional boxer, Roy Jones Jr.

Touted as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of his era, the Pensacola, Florida native won world titles in four weight divisions from middleweight through to heavyweight.

He also went on to be named “Fighter of the Decade” in the 1990s.

Retiring in 2018, Jones Jr. finished his career with a record of 66-9, 47 of which were by knock-out, and was subsequently inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022.

He has also recently just been awarded his Olympic gold medal from 1988 after he was robbed of a clear-cut victory by split decision – seen as one of the biggest injustices in Olympic Games history.

So not exactly an easy act to follow for 24-year-old Harvey.

But Jones Jr. had complete belief that his cousin would be successful, even from childhood.

The boxing legend invited his family up to his Pensacola ranch during the summers and it was evident early on that young Harvey had something about him that reminded Jones of himself.

“I loved that more than anything, because that’s how I was,” Jones said to The Denver Post. “He’s gon’ show it more than he’s gon’ say it, sometimes.”

Then, he went to attend one of Harvey’s varsity football games at Edgewater High and his belief about him being a special talent was cemented after he battled through crowd noise, deficits etc.

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“That has to come from within,” Jones said. “He was determined. And I recognized that, because I knew how I was.”

Having joined Virginia on scholarship as a true freshman quarterback in 2019, Harvey redshirted after being named third on the depth chart.

After one season in which he didn’t see the field at all, he entered the NCAA transfer portal and found a home in the UCF Knights, where he changed position to running back.

Speaking to UCF, he admitted that he knew he’d be good in that position because he rushed a lot as a quarterback in highschool, scoring 25 rushing touchdowns as a senior in 2018.

“I started from scratch a little bit as a running back. I knew I could run the ball,” he said. “At Edgewater I ran the ball a lot.

“I knew I had great running ability—but I had never done any pass-blocking. Even taking the ball from the quarterback. It was all new to me.

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“The running schemes are different when you’re playing running back compared to quarterback. At quarterback when you run, the holes are wide open.”

Harvey wound up playing for four seasons for UCF from 2020-2024, though he missed the entirety of the 2021 campaign after suffering a torn ACL in preseason camp.

However, in true fighter fashion, Harvey returned for his junior season in 2022 and after 13 games in which he rushed for 796 yards from 118 attempts and five touchdowns.

But his breakout season came in 2023 where then two years removed from his ACL injury he exploded for 1,416 yards and 16 touchdowns from 226 rushing attempts.

Harvey exponentially bettered those numbers in his final season with UCF in 2024, rushing for a career-high 1,577 yards and 22 touchdowns from 232 attempts in just 12 games.

His average of 6.8 yards per carry ranked second in the FBS among all running backs with at least 200 carries on the year.

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As such, he was the fifth running back taken in the 2025 draft, selected by the Broncos with the 60th overall pick.

He was taken behind only Ashton Jeanty (sixth overall), Omarion Hampton (22nd overall), Quinshon Judkins (36th overall), and TreVeyon Henderson (38th overall).

Having drafted quarterback Bo Nix in the 2024 draft, the Broncos spearheaded by Sean Payton posted their best record since their Super Bowl-winning season in 2015, going 10-7.

This came after Nix threw for 3,775 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while he also rushed for an additional 430 yards and four touchdowns during his standout rookie season.

This secured them their first playoff berth in nine seasons, though they would exit in the Wild Card Round after suffering a 31-7 blowout defeat to Josh Allens and Buffalo Bills.

The 2025 season, though, could be a huge year for ‘Ferris’ – Payton’s nickname for Nix – and the Broncos, with them highly fancied to be closely contending with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

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With their defense poised to be right up there with Denver’s ‘Orange Crush’ and ‘No Fly Zone’ defenses from years past, there is no reason why they can’t emerge out of the AFC come the post-season.

This comes after they ranked third in the NFL in “true” scoring defense last season, allowing just 18.3 points per game, per NFL.com’s Gennaro Felice.

Now with the addition of linebacker Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga as free agency additions, and keeping 14 of their top 15 players in defensive snaps last season, they have been projected to have the best defense in the league.

Nix isn’t short of weapons either with Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., and Evan Engram available at his disposal.

So Broncos County are very much in a positon to ride after all.

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