TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 8 last season. After a lengthy rehab, he’s fully cleared to participate in training camp.
Barrett has not only had to work through the pain of the injury but also the devastation of losing his 2-year-old daughter Arrayah.
“Her smile, her personality,” he said. “Even when she’s being naughty, she still was so cute.”
In April, Arrayah drowned in the family pool. Barrett thinks about her every day, but getting back to football has helped him and his family in the grieving process.
“As hard as it is, I hate being down and feeling sad all the time,” Barrett said. “I love feeling those feelings for her. She was a big part of our family. I like getting out of it, coming to practice; it’s good for me.”
Barrett and his wife Jordanna have three other children and another baby girl on the way. But he said there is no replacing Arrayah.
“I’m just appreciative to be back, to be able to do everything again,” Barrett said. “Just do everything a little extra harder for her because she is not able to be here. It’s tough, too. This would’ve been the first camp that she would’ve been able to come to and remember.”
Fellow linebacker and new father Anthony Nelson expressed his admiration for his teammate.
“Shaq has always been somebody I looked up to, on the field, obviously as a great player, but just as a father and as a husband,” Nelson said. “He’s someone that set the way for me. He’s somebody I got to know for advice on being a father and being a husband. I will always go to him. He means a lot to me.”
Barrett and his family are starting a foundation called “Arrayah Hope” to help families pay for swimming lessons to prevent these tragedies in the future.
