Dreams do come true.
Jayden Farmer, who grew up in Versailles, spent months training and hoping for a chance after a standout football career at the University of Findlay. When the call came, it was more than just another NFL team reaching out.
It was the Baltimore Ravens.
For Farmer, it hardly felt real. As a kid in Versailles, he first wore a Ravens jersey. Now, the team he once watched from his living room was inviting him to the rookie mini-camp and giving him a shot at the NFL.
“I dreamed about that moment as soon as I stepped out on that field,” Farmer said.
“My dad, Lakunta Farmer, had a chance to work out for some NFL teams when he was fresh out of college. As soon as I got my first jersey, which was actually a Ravens jersey, I knew I wanted to be just like those guys on TV. It never seemed too far to me. No matter what, I always knew I would get my opportunity. I just had to put my head down and work for it.”
This chance made Farmer the 11th University of Findlay player in 13 years to sign with an NFL team. But before he was a two-time First Team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference running back or got the call from the Ravens, he was just another kid in Versailles.
His football story began at Falling Springs.
“My earliest memories were playing Little League with my best friends, day in and day out,” Farmer said.
“Every Saturday, we took that field, and it felt like I was out there with family. Even off the field, my cousins and I would run around Versailles just so we weren’t in the house. We would go to Falling Springs every day and run hills and play basketball. I cherish those memories still.”
Those afternoons set the stage for a childhood filled with competition, friendship and family.
The games didn’t stop after practice. Farmer and his cousins found ways to compete every day and it didn’t matter at what. You name the sport, they wanted to beat each other and claim bragging rights.
Looking back, he says those moments shaped more than his athletic skills. They built relationships that still matter to him today.
At first, football was not part of his story.
Farmer laughs when he remembers another sport that caught his eye as a 7-year-old.
“I remember telling my mom I wanted to play soccer because I liked running,” Farmer said.
“She told me to go try football and see if I liked it. Many years later, it’s still my passion. I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t gotten out of that car that day. I never would’ve had the bond I have now with the guys I used to play with.”
It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with the game.
“I remember I used to get the ball and just go,” Farmer said.
“Hearing nothing but the pads moving and the crowd cheering, I fell in love with it. I was so determined to get to the end zone so I could celebrate with my team and my coaches. I used to go home and tell my mom I was ready for next Saturday to do it all again.”
That excitement stayed with him through youth football in Versailles and into high school.
Farmer played his freshman year at Woodford County High School before making one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
To pursue greater opportunities, he moved to Louisville to live with his dad and transferred to Ballard High School for better football opportunities. It meant leaving behind family, friends, and the hometown where he first learned how to play football.
“I had to make many sacrifices,” Farmer said. “… I knew it was a big step, but I knew with this new opportunity in front of me, I had to make the most of it.”
The move was about more than just changing schools. It also meant believing in himself.
Farmer says no one gave up more to help him get here than his dad.
“I could put a lot of coaches and family on this list,” he said.
“But I have to give credit to my dad. He made sure I was in the right places at the right time. He would work camps and two jobs just to make sure I had exposure to the right people and places to better me as an athlete.”
Even more important, his father gave him a mindset that still motivates him.
“He always used to tell me when I was younger, ‘Do you want to be great or do you want to be average?’ Those words have been instilled in me since I was a little boy. I am forever grateful for him as a father and a coach,” said Ford.
Transferring to Ballard opened new doors and eventually led Farmer to the University of Findlay in Ohio.
He spent years working for every carry, slowly becoming one of Division II football’s most reliable running backs.
By the end of college, he was one of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference’s top offensive players, showing that the risk he and his family took was worth it.
Farmer’s journey at Findlay was a lot like the rest of his football career.
Nothing happened overnight.
He didn’t play much early on, but he kept working and getting ready for the day he’d be the main running back.
He rushed for 390 yards and five touchdowns in 2022 before taking another step forward in 2024, finishing with 662 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while earning First Team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honors.
Then he had the best season of his career.
As a graduate senior in 2025, Farmer became one of the conference’s most productive offensive players, leading the G-MAC with 185 carries while rushing for 859 yards and nine touchdowns. He averaged more than 120 rushing yards over Findlay’s final four regular season games, including a dominant 170-yard, two-touchdown performance against rival Tiffin.
By the end of the season, he earned First Team All-G-MAC honors for the second year in a row and became one of the top Division II running backs in the country.
His performance caught the NFL’s attention, but the months before the draft were tough.
Like many hopeful players, Farmer faced a lot of uncertainty. Every workout counted, and any phone call could change his future. “A stressful few months of training,” Farmer said. “There were a lot of ups and downs.”
Then he got the call that changed everything.
“I was at home with my family,” Farmer said. “I just remember being so relieved. Once I got that call, it was like a weight lifted off of me. I knew I still had work to do, but in that moment, I just celebrated with my family. I even cried a little.”
The first hug went to the man who had pushed him for years to reach this moment.
“The first person I hugged was my dad,” Farmer said. “He’s been with me through it all from high school to college.”
But the first phone call went back home.
Farmer called his grandmother, Francis Waters, who still lives in Versailles.
“I remember her telling me, ‘Jayden, you can do anything you put your mind to,’” Farmer said. “She has been such a big supporter since I was young. I love her with everything in me. Francis Waters is my rock. I loved sharing that moment with her.”
As the excitement faded, he quickly realized something else. Getting the call wasn’t the finish line.
It was just the beginning.
“It felt like a dream, honestly,” Farmer said. “I couldn’t believe it at first, but once the butterflies went away, I knew that just a phone call wasn’t enough. I had to go show them I belonged there.”
The chance meant even more because of which team offered it.
Baltimore is one of the NFL’s most respected teams, known for being tough and always aiming to win. For a running back, it also meant joining an offense led by players Farmer has looked up to for years.
“The Ravens have always been a great organization. I looked at it as a great opportunity to learn from the guys who have been doing this for years.”
He also knew what this chance meant for Findlay and Division II football. “Being one of only two Division II guys to get an opportunity in the AFC meant a lot to my school and me,” he said.
Those first days in Baltimore were another learning experience.
Walking into an NFL facility can be intimidating for any rookie, especially one from Division II.
Farmer admitted he was nervous.
“It was great,” he said. “I was a little nervous at first, but a lot of guys get that going into an organization that produces Hall of Fame athletes. I got acclimated quickly with how they do things and how a pro should operate.”
The Ravens also made it clear why they wanted him.
“They see me as someone with a lot of potential,” Farmer said. “They had a lot of things they wanted to see, and I aimed to prove them right. That’s what I plan to continue to do.”
Even though football took him from Versailles to Louisville, then Ohio, and now Baltimore, Farmer says his hometown still feels like home.
“Man, I want to thank my day ones and my family for always believing in me,” he said. “Versailles has always been home to me. I’m just grateful to have met and been around the people who have been there since I was a little boy putting on pads for the first time.”
He also made sure to give special recognition to one family member.
“Especially my Uncle Joe. When I lived in Versailles, he treated me like I was his own child,” said Farmer. “He’s always been a big inspiration to me as well. It’s a blessing to have an uncle that I look at as a second father.”
Even with all the recognition, Farmer still measures success by the people who helped him get here.
Still, if you ask Farmer what’s next, he doesn’t talk about stats, contracts, or making the roster. He borrows a phrase from one of the greatest competitors in sports history.
“I’ve got to keep working,” he said. “In the words of the late Kobe Bryant, ‘The job’s not finished.’”
Those words are more than just motivation now.
“They’re how I live,” Farmer said. “I intend to keep pushing myself past limits I’ve never experienced before. I’ve only reached a part of what God has wanted me to see and experience with Him. I know anything is possible.”