New Havener Picked In NFL Draft’s First Round

When the Dallas Cowboys selected former Elm City Pop Warner Mighty Mite Tyler Booker as their first pick in the 2025 NFL draft, family and friends of the burly offensive lineman rejoiced, as did the fans of the beleaguered Cowboys franchise. So did New Haven.

Booker is only the second New Haven native to be selected in the first round, joining Floyd Little, who the Denver Broncos picked No. 6 overall in 1967.

Among those celebrating was Kristen Threatt, who watched as the 6’4” 321-pound First Team All-American sprinted and danced to the Green Bay, Wis., stage Thursday night, shouting with glee, before wrapping NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a giant bear hug.

Perhaps understandably, attempts to reach out to the Booker family went unanswered.

“He and his family get it,” said Threatt, co-founder of Gorilla Lemonade, a line of beverages he created with Brian Burkett-Thompson. ​“They understand it’s all about giving back to where you came from.”

Threatt first met Booker at The Sample Shop on Whalley Avenue in the fall of 2022. At the time Booker was a freshman left guard at the football powerhouse University of Alabama. Threatt told him about Gorilla Lemonade, and how it uses part of its profits for community initiatives like food drives, toy giveaways, and youth business ambassador programs. ​“He was this 18-year-old kid, and he was all in,” Threatt recalled.

William Booker, Tyler’s dad, grew up in Newhallville. He and his wife Tashona instilled in Tyler and their other two kids a granite work ethic that had him earning high grades and showing up at practice earlier and leaving later than anyone else. 

The impulse to support those in need in their community also came from his parents. ​“Feeding the homeless, or going on walks to help fight ALS, or other kinds of causes, that was kind of ingrained in me, that when you’re able to help, you do,” he told the New Haven Independent in a 2023 interview at Westville Diner.

While at IMG Academy, a Bradenton, Fla., boarding school that draws top athletes from around the country and the world, Booker witnessed the racial unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. It opened his eyes, and led to his proclamation, at an UnderArmour workout, that ​“the more I improve my platform as an athlete, the more I’ll be able to improve my platform as a social justice advocate and help create change for my community,” in September 2021. 

“I think about kids my little brother’s age looking up to me, and I want to make sure that I’m showing them the best vision of what they can be,” he told the Independent.

On his team’s bye week in November 2022, Booker showed up at Pizza House on Howe Street in support of Gorilla Lemonade’s efforts to help state champ New Haven Steelers Cheer and Dance Team raise funds to compete at the national championship in Orlando, Fla. 

“This is about giving back to a group of girls that are already making our community proud and have the chance to make an even bigger impact,” he said at the time. 

In the spring of 2023, it was Gorilla Lemonade’s turn to support Booker, providing lunchboxes packed with sandwiches and cookies for the hundreds of kids attending his First Annual Tyler Booker Football Camp at Hopkins School. The camp, a free, all-day experience, has middle school and high school students engaging in drills, exercises, and competitive game play with an emphasis on discipline, teamwork, and leadership. 

As with virtually everything Booker does, his family — his parents, as well as older sister Jailen and younger brother Mason — were closely involved, reaching out to facilities and sponsors and asking for volunteers. ​“This is for our community and by our community,” Jailen said at the May 2023 camp. ​“People see what we’re trying to do and they want to pitch in.” 

This year’s camp, the third, will take place on Saturday, June 21, again at Hopkins School. 

“You watch kids get inspired by Tyler at his camp,” Threatt said. ​“You see his family and there’s that solid foundation. He knows a lot of the kids at his camp don’t have that. They don’t have role models. So he shows them where hard work and focus and commitment can get you, even if it’s not necessarily an NFL contract.” 

Threatt said he and Burkett-Thompson look forward to more collaborations in New Haven with Booker and his family in the future. ​“They’ve never once said ​‘no’ to us,” he said. ​“The Dallas Cowboys called him ​‘a high character guy’ for a reason.”