#tj2

1966: TJ is born in Fort Worth, Texas. His mother was forced to give him up. His father never acknowledged his birth. He spent a few of his early months with a family who jumped to adopt him, until realising his heritage, all they left him with was two first names - Trey given to him by his birth mother, Jackson by his first and only family. He spent the rest of his childhood in foster placements and group homes.

1982: The starting quarterback for his high school team, TJ first begins to get spotted outside of his hometown. Scouts from local Texas colleges start appearing at his games, not before long there’s national D1 scouts filling up the crowds. By the time he graduates, he has his pick of colleges.

1984: TJ decides to stick to him hometown, choose to go to Texas A&M for college. The first string quarterback picks up an injury and TJ never lets him win his place back. He leads out the XXX for 3 years before graduating early and entering the 1992 NFL Draft.

1988: Originally expected to be one of the first picks, TJ ends up not being selected until the second round on account of information about his troubled childhood coming to light. The press catches wind of some juvenile charges for shoplifting and burglary, TJ began to believe he wasn’t going to be picked at all. The Dallas Cowboys take a chance on a hometown hero (and they desperately needed a new QB).

1992: In his fourth season, TJ leads the Cowboys all the way to the Superbowl where he picks up the only ring of his career.

2001: Already known for his volunteering and charitable donations, TJ formalises his work with after-school programs and the foster system into his own foundation - the TJ Church Foundation.

2005: TJ meets his future wife at an event in DC, they’re married within a year.

2006: After 18 seasons leading the Cowboys, TJ retires from being a professional footballer.

2007: TJ gets divorced.

2008: After being involved in Texas Republican politics (almost entirely through donations), his political reputation becomes suddenly nationwide after being asked to speak at the Republican National Convention. It wasn’t a prime spot, but his message a new, modern party spread quickly across YouTube and cable news. In the 15 minutes of excitement he was even suggested as a potential VP for Romney.

2009: The after-school program run by the TJ Church foundation has spread through every public school in Texas. In the same year, he meets Lucia Mendez, and his time is far more spent in DC than it is Dallas.

2010: The first chatter about getting TJ to run for office began in the halls of Westminster and the backrooms of the Texas legislature. Although they were hoping he would target the House or the Senate, TJ’s focus was still very much on Texas. Instead he began to explore a late entry in the Texas Gubernatorial race.

2011: Despite joining late, TJ narrowly wins the Texas governor race, bringing together a coalition of voters never seen before in a Texas race. He moves back permanently to the state, breaking up with Lucia in the process.

2015: After 5 mostly successful years as Governor, TJ decides not to run again, choosing instead to return to DC and beg for Lucia back. He didn’t know what to expect, to find that she was pregnant would have been his last guess. Despite that, he.’s determined to be with her again. He adopts Matteo at birth, proposing to Lucia soon after.

Early 2018: After 3 years focused again on his foundation - expanding their after-school program nationwide and starting adoption awareness campaigns - TJ realises that he is frustrated by the pace of change and feels compelled to return to politics. With a strong incumbent in the Senate, and the House seeming like a step down, a crazy idea to aim for the 2020 Presidential race starts to form. After looking for counsel from many senior members of the party, his mind is made up. On telling Lucia, after promising years ago to never put his political career ahead of their relationship again, she breaks up with him.