Fitzgerald reflects on life lessons from mentor Drake
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Darryl Drake’s biggest impact on one of his greatest pupils has nothing to do with football.
That’s exactly how it should be, despite the high stakes, intensity and ultra-competition inherent with the NFL environment. Drake, the Steelers receivers coach, was laid to rest on Saturday in Castalian Springs, Tennessee, six days after found deceased in his training camp dorm room. He was 62.
“Coaching on the football field, he was obviously great,” Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday, reflecting on his former position coach with the Cardinals. “But the lasting impact comes with how he challenged you to be a better man, a better father, a better partner in your relationship, how to treat people.
“The way he treated his wife, his daughters, his granddaughters; he was a living testament for how to do it the right way as a human being. I don’t like to focus on the football aspect. We all have jobs. But he really implanted a lot of those principles to his players. I’ll remember him for those lessons. Those will be the things that really will stick with me 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now when I’m thinking about him.”
Fitzgerald rejoined his team Sunday after being excused from Saturday’s work to honor a request from Drake’s family to speak at the celebration of life in Gallatin, Tennessee. He was among several active and former players, coaches and executives from the NFL and college ranks who attended the services. Two head coaches, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Cleveland’s Freddie Kitchens, paid respects hours before guiding their teams in preseason games.
The huge turnout, Fitzgerald said, underscored how much of a beloved figure Drake was in the football community. He is survived by his wife, Sheila; daughters Shanice, Felicia and Marian; and two granddaughters.
The message that Fitzgerald wanted to contribute?
“I just tried to celebrate him as a man, reflecting on what made him so funny,” he said. “He thought he was a professional singer. But he really could sing. He grew up singing in the choir as a child and he had a great voice. He loved to sing gospel and oldies. He also thought he could dress, too. All the buttons he had on his suit. We used to get on him all the time. He thought he was clean.”
Drake coached for 36 years, including 15 years in the NFL with the Steelers, Cardinals and Bears. On the college level, he coached at Texas, Baylor and Georgia. At every stop, Drake and his booming voice undoubtedly left a mark wrapped in passion.
“Vibrant,” Fitzgerald said. “Lots of enthusiasm. Had a wonderful passion for coaching. A charismatic personality. Obviously, the Steelers are going to miss him, but the football community in general is going to miss him. He was such an unbelievable mentor to so many of the guys he coached. A tremendous loss. I was glad I had a chance to be there for his family and for his celebration of life.”
The Steelers honored Drake with a moment of silence before Saturday’s exhibition game against the Chiefs and debuted a “DD” decal that they will wear on their helmets. During pregame warm-ups, Steelers receivers wore black hooded sweatshirts emblazoned with the credo that Drake established for the 2019 season: “Shut out the noise.”
“Before practice every single day, he talked about ‘The Word of the Day,’ ” Fitzgerald reflected from Drake’s five seasons with the Cardinals, beginning in 2013. “He would read scripture. And it was always applicable to what we were going through during the course of the season, if we were going through trials and tribulations or prosperity and not getting ahead ourselves and staying in the moment. It was always really pointed to the message he was trying to get across to us at the time.”
The way Fitzgerald sees it, the messages live on with the memory of a special coach.