Josiah Stewart has social media, too.

The Rams edge rusher saw a tweet on X that said he had 18 siblings and that they all grew up together in a house overflowing with brothers and sisters, playing basketball and tag with his enormous family before emerging from the chaos to become a national champion at Michigan and eventually making it to the NFL.

Sounds like a great story, right?

With 18 siblings, you could almost field your own 11-on-11 family football game. There’s just one problem.

It’s not entirely true.

“There’s some misconception on there,” Stewart told the California Post in an exclusive interview of the information about his family that’s currently circulating on social media. “So, I do have 18 siblings. I didn’t grow up with all of them. That would be, like, a crazy full house.”

Welcome to the internet, where a kernel of truth can turn into a full-blown origin story before the person actually living it gets a chance to reveal the truth.

Here’s the true story, straight from Stewart’s mouth.

Stewart does indeed have 18 siblings that are split between his mother’s and father’s sides of the family. But the mental image of 19 children growing up under one roof isn’t reality.

Stewart was born in the Bronx. His father, Andrew Stewart, had several children from a previous marriage. Many of those siblings are considerably older. He moved to Massachusetts around the age of 10, where his mother and sisters raised him.

He was one of the youngest children in a household of six: his mother, Carmen, five sisters, and Josiah. As he remembers it, he was essentially the only boy in the house and spent a lot of time playing with his second-youngest sister.

That environment helped shape a future NFL pass rusher in ways that have nothing to do with sacks, tackles or getting around an offensive tackle.

“You learn a lot growing up with women,” Stewart said. “Just being in tune with your emotions, feeling for other people and kind of getting a real sense of compassion and whatnot.”

There is something wonderfully unexpected about an edge rusher talking about compassion.

Because every Sunday, Stewart is paid to do something decidedly less compassionate: terrorize quarterbacks.

Stewart got a late start to football. Growing up in New York and Massachusetts, he said he gravitated toward street basketball because it was available on every corner and playground.

Unlike most NFL athletes, Stewart’s journey to the NFL wasn’t a lifelong dream cultivated through youth leagues, private coaches and travel tournaments. In fact, he didn’t even begin playing organized football until his freshman year of high school.

Stewart attended Everett High School where he played football with other NFL stars Mike Sainristil, Isaiah Likely and Lewis Cine. As a junior, he had seven sacks and a fumble recovery. He was expected to have a breakout senior season, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stewart was rated as a three-star recruit out of high school and committed to play college football at Coastal Carolina University. That’s where his older siblings, who were not as much a part of his life growing up, began taking notice and supporting their brother.

“Even when I was at Coastal, they were excited to come watch me play,” Stewart said. “Just having any sibling playing any sport, they always want to come out and support.”

Stewart became a standout at Coastal Carolina and transferred to Michigan after his sophomore year, helping the Wolverines win a national championship in 2023.

Following the 2024 season, Stewart entered the NFL draft where he was selected in the third round by the Rams.

Stewart played behind Jared Verse and Byron Young in his rookie season and finished with three sacks, six quarterback hits, and 22 tackles. He’s looking to improve upon those numbers this season.

Stewart said his large family hasn’t made it out to SoFi Stadium yet, but because most of them are on the East Coast they will come out to some away games this season, possibly Week 4 in Philadelphia against the Eagles.

After that game, he’ll have a family reunion of sorts, and maybe they’ll talk about all the embellished social media posts.

Stewart didn’t grow up wrestling for space with 18 siblings inside an impossibly crowded Bronx home. Instead, he grew up around his mother and older sisters and learned compassion and emotional intelligence from the women who helped raise him.

And maybe that truth is much more interesting than the rumors floating around on the internet. 

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