Sandra Bronson knows good “sport people.”

Her husband, Johnny, played football at Army. Her daughter, Leitawsha, was a two-sport star for Kent-Meridian and Morgan State University. Her first two sons, John and Demitrius, advanced to the NFL. So when she, like a handful of scouts and coaches, says her youngest boy, Josiah, has elite skills, she’s probably right. It’s just too bad Josiah is only starting to notice.

“He could have been the top defensive player the state if he’d have gotten to it earlier,” said Sandra, from her home in Covington, with Josiah in earshot.

There’s little denying Kentwood High School’s Josiah Bronson has the athletic ability to join his brothers as products of the NFL. His measurables — 6-feet 5-inches tall and 265 pounds of lean muscle — have caught the attention of major college programs that include Ohio State, Oregon, Colorado and Washington.

After a disappointing 2013 campaign with the Conks, Josiah finished the 2014 season as a first-team AP all-state selection at defensive end. He contributed six sacks, 13 tackles for loss and notched the second most tackles overall on the team, according to his head coach, Rex Norris, who called Josiah “one of the best athletes I’ve ever coached.”

At 5 feet 9 inches tall, Demitrius, a practice squad player with the Seattle Seahawks, admits that his little brother is bigger than him, but won’t concede that Josiah is a better player. Yet.

“Out of all of us, all of the Bronson’s, he’s looking like he’s going to be the best one,” Demitrius said. “He’s huge but has that athletic build… I’m really excited to see what the future holds for him.”

Despite the interest from top-tier suitors, the youngest Bronson boy only recently became eligible for scholarships. Although his family asserts that the smiley 17 year old always possessed the smarts to succeed, he never saw the need to study.

“It was always a joke for him,” Sandra said. “He almost gave me a heart attack. I never thought it would kick in.”

Where Josiah’s academic disinterest started is unknown, but a fractured tibia and knee injury he sustained playing basketball, which caused him to miss his entire sophomore season, seemed to be a primary culprit in its longevity.

While Norris and Demitrius saw Josiah’s injury as creating a sort of “depression,” Josiah said he felt it was more of “laziness.” He said he didn’t recognize his opportunities, despite assertions from his parents that he could be a special athlete. Josiah said the injury forced him to miss about two months of school, causing him to eventually retake five classes.

“When I got back, it was just the laziness in me,” he said.

Demitrius said he experienced similar difficulties in high school and expects college to squeeze the best out of his baby brother, just as it did for him.

“You just don’t really have a clue at that age,” he said. “For me, it was kind of similar. My grades started slipping. I had a 1.9 (GPA)… the last year or two (I realized) I can be somebody. I can be an NFL player or a high Division I player. I need to step on the gas.”

While Sandra pushed for her youngest son to take ownership of his future, she acknowledged it was difficult at times.

“You have a kid who doesn’t really have any learning disabilities or things that could stop him from doing stuff,” Sandra said. “He just wasn’t putting in his best effort. He just always thought he had time.”

Thanks in large part to her last two boys, Sandra learned the sliding scale for scholarship eligibility, which starts with a 1010 SAT score attached to a 2.0 GPA. Josiah recently learned his SAT score bumped him past the threshold. He is yet to commit to any school, though he is leaning toward Temple University, the school that’s shown the most interest.

Josiah, who also played tight end his senior year, calls football a “let loose thing.” With the assistance of hindsight, he sees his high school experiences less as a struggle and more of a bounce back situation.

“If I could work hard like this all the time I could be a great player,” he said. “I’m just starting to know that.”

One aspect of Josiah that’s never been in doubt is his love of music. He started singing for his church’s youth choir at about 8 years old. With John Legend among his musical inspirations, Josiah plays the keyboard and sings.

“I’m not shy to sing anything,” he said. “I sing my gospel music mainly… I like songs with meaning.”

Sandra said she never forced football or athletics on her kids, she only wanted to keep them busy and provide choices. She said the family’s hierarchy of emphasis never changed: church, followed by academics and then everything else.

Despite her apparent aptitude for developing professional athletes, Sandra said she’d never considered her experience as a mother might be different from any others.

“I guess it’s not the norm, huh?” Sandra said. “I just don’t look at it like that. You have two boys in the NFL. But that was a goal of theirs when they were really young. That’s what they wanted to do. They worked at it. It wasn’t easy. They kept going.”