Joshua Dobbs’ Parents Have Always Been There for Their Son, and the Same Holds True Today

If you tuned in to the Tennessee Titans game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17, you may have noticed the TV cameras zooming in on the parents of Titans quarterback Joshua Dobbs. It seemed like every single time the Titans had the ball, the cameras were on Stephanie and Robert Dobbs.

Stephanie and Robert are Joshua’s biggest fans. When Joshua was growing up, his parents attended every game. When he made his first NFL start against the Cowboys in Week 17, there they were again. Dobbs will lead the way Saturday night in a must-win game for the Titans, and he’ll have the support of more than his parents as the Titans look to end a six-game losing streak with a postseason berth on the line.

Joshua Dobbs’ parents attended every one of their son’s games as he grew up Joshua Dobbs of the Tennessee Titans celebrates after a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys at Nissan Stadium on December 29, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee. | Cooper Neill/Getty Images.

As Dobbs headed into his final season as the quarterback at the University of Tennessee in 2016, Stephanie and Robert reflected on the days when Joshua put on his first football uniform at age 5. They remembered it like it was yesterday, noting how much time flies. From the time he played that first game, his parents had never missed a game.

“It has flown by, but each of the games still feels to me like those very first ones,” Stephanie told The Tennessean back in 2016. “It’s really a privilege for your child to be able to do something they love in the competitive athletic arena playing in the SEC. We have enjoyed and savored all of those and certainly will be really lucky to continue to savor each one that comes.”

Not only is Dobbs a talented football player, but he’s also a bright young man. He graduated with honors with a degree in aerospace engineering. Technically, he’s a rocket scientist. He even participated in an externship program at NASA during his NFL career that began when the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

“When you get down there, and you see how intelligent people are and how hard they work, just what they are even talking about and are able to pull off, it’s truly amazing,” Dobbs said of the program in 2020, per USA Today. “It was so specialized.”

Dobbs will use his mixture of talent and brains to try and find a way to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday. The winner earns the AFC South championship and a playoff berth.

Dobbs has always been humble, his parents say

Dobbs made his first NFL start in Week 17 in a 27-13 loss to the Cowboys. After starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill went down with a season-ending injury, and backup quarterback Malik Willis was ineffective, Dobbs got the nod. He finished the game 20-for-39 for 232 yards. He threw a touchdown pass and an interception. His efforts earned him another start in what will be the biggest game of his life.

He’ll certainly have the backing of Robert and Stephanie, but he’ll also have all of Titans Nation pulling for him to push his team into the playoffs.

As Dobbs grew older, he never changed, according to his mother. During that 2016 interview, she said he’s the same person he was when he was 5.

“The interesting thing about Joshua is he’s the same Joshua as he was as a little boy playing sports,” she told The Tennessean. “He has been blessed with talent and to be able to be successful in sports, so there were times playing football that he would be pretty dominating on the field and have phenomenal games

“But once he walked off the field, that is where he left it. He’s always been very humble, so unless you were able to watch the game, you would never know what he did or didn’t do.”

There will be plenty of eyes on Dobbs on Saturday.