Photo: Shaquil Barrett/Instagra
Shaquil Barrettis opening up about his emotional offseason.
After a week 8 Achilles injury sidelined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, 30, last season, he was spending more time at home. Despite his frustration at the situation, Barrett toldESPNit was a blessing in disguise that gave him more time with 2-year-old daughter Arrayah, whodied after drowning in a poolin May.
“This is a daily battle. Tough battle,” Barrett told the outlet. “Today I felt it heavier today than I did the last couple days.”
“Her smile — I just miss her so much. Her energy, just like putting her to bed every night, reading stories. She just brought so much brightness and wholeness and completeness to our lives. And we most definitely have a big, big, big, big, big hole in our hearts and our lives that we won’t be able to fill.”
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Barrett added, “I’m not happy I got hurt, but I’m happy that I was able to spend all that extra time well from being hurt last year. So it, like … in hindsight, I’m looking back, I’m glad I was able to have that extra time with her so I could have more bonding time and experiences with her.”
“Every time we would read, she’d be like ‘Star, star’ in just the cutest voice, and she would call the moon ‘stars’ too,” Barrett recalled. “But she loved her stars. It was everything.”
Barrett candidly revealed that while they did have gates around the pool at their family home, “we just left it open that night.”
Shaquil Barrett Instagram
Barrett wants to continue being transparent about the ups and downs of grieving in hopes of providing community to others who experience tragedy. While they’ve gone ahead with different summer experiences as a family, they’ve also gotten counseling for their kids and leaned on community, both in and out of the NFL.
“I feel like we doing the best we can in this situation,” he continued. “I ain’t saying we doing perfect, but we doing I think the best we can in just, just being honest with our emotions, with each other, with our family and our friends, everybody that’s supporting us. And not like being afraid to be weak from time to time — and not even weak, it’s showing emotions.”
Jordanna Barret/Instagram
Though he had mixed feelings about the news, Jordanna leveled, “You can’t think like that. You’ve gotta stay strong, have faith and believe.”
“She would’ve been the best big sister. Like, it just, it’s bittersweet. It’s bittersweet ‘cause I know she’s in a better place, but I would 100% prefer her to be here with us, selfishly. It’s a lot. There’s just a lot that goes on throughout the day.”
source: people.com
