Douglas players, Feis’ family announce Dolphins picks
DAVIE For a team that’s experienced gutwrenching pain over the past two months, Saturday afternoon was pure joy and exhilaration for Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Clad in black and maroon game jerseys, Eagle football players descended upon the Miami Dolphins training facility, taking center stage for the final day of the NFL Draft. Seven senior players, along with family members of Aaron Feis, announced three of the team’s draft picks live on national TV.
A beloved assistant football coach, Feis was one of the 17 victims in the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting. The 37-year-old has been remembered for his heroism after racing into the building and shielding students from gunfire.
“It means a lot after all the stuff we’ve been through,” quarterback Tyler Goodman said. “Getting to come here and represent [Aaron] Feis. Just running around throwing the football, making some picks. I mean, what can be better than this? Free food, too, so that’s fun.”
Arriving at the team’s Davie facility at 11:15 a.m., the players were given a personalized tour of the center, capped off by a meet-and-greet with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and owner Steve Ross.
Making their way through the auditorium, the players joked about going “rogue” and making their own selections if they didn’t like the picks as they posed for pictures. The group was then ushered into the Dolphins’ bubble practice field for the announcements.
Surrounded by a bevy of cameras at the 20-yard line, the seven players stood by a makeshift podium with Feis’ 8-year-old daughter, Arielle, and Feis’ sister, Johanna, as they prepared for their moment. With the Dolphins’ fourth-round pick and 123rd selection, Johanna announced the team’s pick of Notre Dame tight end Durham Smythe.
Eight picks later, Goodman read Miami’s 131st selection — Arizona State running back Kalen Ballage.
“I was very nervous,” said Goodman, who will play football at Nichols College next year. I said the name about five or six times [beforehand] and when I got to it, I just forgot this kid’s name.”
“It was awesome reading a pick in the draft. Hopefully I’ll get my name called up there someday.”
The team later announced the Dolphins’ sixth-round selection.
After making the picks, the players sprinted around the field laughing as they threw and caught passes on the same field where the Miami Dolphins practice. The team was full of smiles as they joked around. Players and family members goaded Arielle into video-bombing Goodman’s interview with a TV crew, with the youngster finally mustering the courage to leap behind the quarterback as she ran back laughing.
“It meant a lot to all of us,” offensive lineman Lucas Taylor said. “We’ve been doing a lot as a community to help try and grieve over this loss of all of our friends, family and Coach Feis. It’s been rough, but this helped us out.”
A 1999 Stoneman Douglas alum, Feis played center for the Eagles from 1995-98, wearing number 73. He returned to his alma mater in 2002 as an assistant coach and also served as the team’s college recruiting coordinator.
For offensive lineman Will Pringle, wearing No. 73 is a constant reminder of the type of man Feis was and what he meant to the Stoneman Douglas community.
“During the season, he came up to me and said, ‘You have to stand up, because they are a lot of good people who wore that number,’” Pringle said. “I was like, ‘Let me guess – you wore that number,’ and he said ‘I sure did. You better make me proud.’ At the time, it was special but wasn’t that special.
“Now after all this has happened, it means so much more to me and to wear that number and represent him. I take a lot of pride in it. It’s an honor to wear the same number as him. It really makes me push myself to be the best I can be in all aspects of life.”