On Tuesday, Jan. 2, American singer/songwriter Ciara revealed that she discovered she was a distant cousin of New York Yankees legend and Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter.
Ancestry trees are complicated. Nobody knows the entirety of their lineage, or even the people currently living that they are related to. However, to find someone as famous as Derek Jeter is obviously a huge shock, even if Ciara is a massive celebrity herself.
How are Jeter and Ciara related?
The DNA test, conducted by Dr. Henry Gates as part of the show ‘Finding Your Roots’, revealed that both Ciara and Jeter shared an identical strand of DNA on their fourteenth chromosome. The members of the show knew that this was a match because Jeter had previously appeared on an episode an had his DNA tested as well. Genealogists know that this specific strand of DNA came from Jeter’s mother.
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Ciara’s other connection to the New York Yankees
It’s no secret that Ciara is married to Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson. Lesser known is the fact that Wilson was also drafted by an MLB team…thrice, in 2007 (41st round, Baltimore Orioles), 2010 (4th round, Colorado Rockies), and 2013 (Rule 5 Draft, Texas Rangers). What position did Wilson play? Middle infield of course. Wilson even played two seasons of minor league ball before being selected in the NFL draft to play quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks.
Furthermore, the team that currently holds the draft rights to Russell Wilson is, you guessed it, the New York Yankees after the Rangers traded his rights away in 2018. Wilson even received an at-bat from the Yankees during a spring training game in 2019. He wound up striking out to Max Fried, who would wind up finishing top-five in NL Cy Young voting during the 2020 season.
Have other celebrities discovered long-lost famous relative with Dr. Gates?
They have. Recently, through Dr. Gates, actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg found out that she was related to Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.
