NFL Player Shaquil Barrett Honors Late Daughter with First Career Touchdown
Shaquil Barrett lost his daughter Arrayah earlier this year when the 2-year-old tragically drowned in the family pool. Last weekend, Barrett honored Arrayah with his first NFL career touchdown. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' linebacker scored against the Chicago Bears and blew a kiss to the sky.
"The camera was on me after I made the play. I told her, 'I love you. I miss you. Wish you was here,'" Barrett told reporters after the game, according to Good Morning America. "I'm glad I'm able to still get some spotlight for her, and to the Lord above, because he's the reason that we're here right now. I'm just trusting his plan."
Arrayah was the youngest of Barrett's four children with his wife Jordanna. She died on April 30 after falling into the family's pool despite life-saving measures.
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The couple has since announced that they are expecting another child. "I just know Arrayah had a special hand in picking this sweet girl to add to our family!" Jordanna wrote on Instagram, captioning a photo of a positive pregnancy test.
"We are so beyond blessed, so beyond grateful that God chose to give us another little girl! We miss our Arrayah every second of every day, but I rest in knowing she's going to be the best big sister angel to little miss Allanah!"
Barrett said that faith has been a comfort to him and his family in the wake of his daughter’s death.
"My faith never really wavered going through this situation. I needed him more now [and then] than I needed him ever," he said. "That was the only way our family was going to make do, by leaning on each other and trusting in the Lord."
"I do feel like it was divine intervention to be able to get that spotlight for my baby girl. I always played for my family already, but having that extra incentive makes me want to go a little harder for her.”
“It never stops sucking. It's always going to suck, but at least I'm able to shine a little bit of a spotlight on her."
