STATESBORO - Georgia Southern freshman defensive lineman Jeremiah Ticket has his own unique story in how he arrived to Statesboro.

Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, Ticket was raised was raised in a village called Anaktuvuk Pass with his blood family until his early teenage years. Ticket's mother and grandfather both passed away in 2020 and his grandmother passed away in the summer of 2025.

Ticket lived in the small village for all of my childhood years and Anaktuvuk is home to his family, including cousins and other relatives. Nestled on a divide between the Anaktuvuk and John Rivers, Anaktuvuk Pass is located approximately 250 miles northwest of Fairbanks and stands as the gateway to the stunning wilderness of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. In 2024, Anaktuvuk Pass was home to 395 residents, with members of the Nunamiut Eskimo tribe (of which Ticket has bloodlines to) making up over 88% of the population.

As you can imagine, Ticket says he knows everyone and everything about the town. Fun fact, as of 2009, the Anaktuvuk Pass post office has been considered the most isolated in the United States.

Ticket came to Georgia in 2021 for a summer vacation with his cousin and his family, including his aunt who is now his legal guardian, and ended up staying in the Peach State. His little cousin (or little brother as he likes to call him) played football over the summers and asked if he wanted to give it a try. Ticket had excelled at basketball, volleyball and cross country in Alaska, but decided to give football a try in the summer of 2021 playing rec ball.

At 6-3 and nearly 300 pounds, the defensive lineman picked the sport up quickly and eventually started playing for Jonesboro High, which led to his scholarship offer to Georgia Southern, where he signed in December of 2024.