Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett dedicated his crucial pick-six in a 27-17 win against the Chicago Bears on Sunday to his late two-year-old daughter. <\/p>\n
With 2:12 left on the clock and Tampa Bay holding a narrow 20-17 lead, Bears quarterback Justin Fields dropped back into the end zone to pass but was picked off by Barrett at their own four-yard line. Fighting through tackles and assisted by his teammates, he bundled the ball home to seal the game for the Bucs. It was the 30-year-old\u2019s second career interception and his first ever touchdown. <\/p>\n
Barrett\u2019s daughter, Arrayah, tragically passed away in April this year after drowning in a swimming pool. <\/p>\n
The nine-year NFL veteran spent the offseason dealing with grief, which was compounded by his battle to return to the field after tearing his Achilles tendon in October of last year. <\/p>\n
Barrett blew a kiss to the sky after scoring and discussed the touching moment with the media after the game. <\/p>\n
Wearing a heart-shaped necklace with his late daughter\u2019s picture on it, he said: \u201cI always play for my family already, but then having that extra incentive and making me want to go a little harder for her \u2026 at least, I\u2019m able to shine a little spotlight on her a little bit. <\/p>\n
\u201cCamera was on me after I made the play, I told her, \u2018I love you, miss you and wish you were here.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Barrett also spoke about struggles with his loss, explaining the rush of pain that he experienced before the season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings and credited his faith and the support of others for helping him focus on his football. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was struggling real bad. I couldn\u2019t stop crying,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cCalled my wife, the coaches checked in on me. But then out of the blue, everything just went away and I was able to focus on the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife says people pray for me, so I actually felt like the wave of emotions just slide to the side and I was able to actually able to focus. So I was able to feel the power of prayer.\u201d <\/p>\n
The linebacker believes that \u201cdivine intervention\u201d aided him in that vital moment on Sunday afternoon. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s setting us up for something that we need, and I\u2019m just ready for it and I\u2019m waiting for it, and I\u2019m going to believe in Him and believe in this plan for sure. And I do feel like it was divine intervention to be able to just get that spotlight for my baby girl.\u201d <\/p>\n
Barrett, a Super Bowl winner with the Denver Broncos in 2015 and the Bucs in 2021, was showered with praise after the game by head coach Todd Bowles. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable. You can\u2019t even fathom going through something like that,\u201d the 59-year-old said. \u201cTo see him go through it and come out on the other side \u2013 and I\u2019m sure he still has days \u2013 but to play like he\u2019s playing right now, to be where he is right now is unbelievable.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fellow Buccaneers linebacker Anthony Nelson also detailed his admiration for Barrett. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a special dude. It\u2019s amazing. He\u2019s stayed strong in his faith. That\u2019s one of the things I admire about him the most,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s a positive person, he believes in himself \u2026 and he\u2019s a hard worker.\u201d <\/p>\n
Barrett\u2019s family were in attendance as Tampa Bay improved to 2-0 and saw him pick up a sack and two tackles to go alongside his memorable pick-six. <\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be denied,\u201d said Barrett, going over his game-clinching touchdown. \u201cMy teammates came to rally behind me and help me get into the end zone. It was just a great way to end the game. The offense did it for us last time, and it was our time to return the favor.\u201d <\/p>\n
Barrett and Bucs now turn their attention to the 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles, who they face next week during Monday Night Football. <\/p>\n\n
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett dedicated his crucial pick-six in a 27-17 win against the Chicago Bears on Sunday to his late two-year-old daughter. With 2:12 left on the clock and Tampa Bay holding a narrow 20-17 lead, Bears quarterback Justin Fields dropped back into the end zone to pass but was picked off <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}