Why a return to Miami means so much for Minkah Fitzpatrick

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Minkah Fitzpatrick feels similar helium stepped into a clip machine.

The Miami Dolphins traded for the three-time All-Pro information this summer, bringing Fitzpatrick backmost to the squad that drafted him successful 2018 earlier sending him to the Pittsburgh Steelers 1 twelvemonth later.

During grooming camp, helium described the nostalgic feeling of returning to Hard Rock Stadium and southbound Florida successful general; but the determination backmost to Miami is important to Fitzpatrick beyond the shot field, arsenic well.

His household lives successful adjacent Palm Beach County, having moved from New Jersey soon aft helium was drafted. As helium adjusts to his instrumentality to the Dolphins, Fitzpatrick finds comfortableness successful not lone being reunited with his tight-knit family, but besides being contiguous for his member Justice's last play of precocious schoolhouse football.

While Minkah blossomed into 1 of the NFL's champion antiaircraft players during his clip successful Pittsburgh, the region strained his narration with his household who remained successful Florida.

"It was tough. We missed a batch of events," helium said. "We missed a batch of birthdays and stuff, but they came up a bully magnitude adjacent during the season. ... It wasn't ever everybody, but they were conscionable trying to get idiosyncratic up determination astatine slightest erstwhile a month. We would ever effort and walk 1 of the holidays together, whether that beryllium Thanksgiving oregon Christmas. And past I'm down present during the offseason, truthful I got to spot them for fractional the year.

"You miss a batch of events, but it's an unfortunate portion of business."

When the big Dolphins look the New York Jets connected "Monday Night Football" (7:15 p.m, ET, ESPN), his household volition beryllium successful attendance to ticker him. And the adjacent clip Justice adjacent takes the tract for St. Thomas Aquinas High School successful Fort Lauderdale, Minkah volition instrumentality the favor. It's a luxury he's been waiting years for, and 1 he's hoping volition marque his 2nd enactment successful Miami happier than his first, erstwhile helium requested a commercialized 1 game into his 2nd season.

"I deliberation the champion portion of being a member is watching your siblings develop," helium said. "Being a large brother, whether it beryllium my sisters oregon my member ... conscionable watching him spell from a small 5-foot bucktoothed kid to 6-2 1/2, 190 [pounds] moving 10.5 [seconds successful the 100-meter dash]. It's awesome watching that and past besides conscionable being capable to thatch him everything that I know."

DOLPHINS GENERAL MANAGER Chris Grier ne'er expected to get Fitzpatrick connected his squad -- not successful 2018 and decidedly not again successful 2025.

During the 2018 draft, Miami flirted with the thought of trading up for a quarterback, aft starter Ryan Tannehill tore his ACL successful consecutive seasons. But erstwhile the imaginable of drafting the 2017 Chuck Bednarik and Jim Thorpe Awards victor became realistic with the 11th wide pick, Grier jumped connected it.

"I didn't expect Minkah to beryllium there, to beryllium honorable with you," Grier said astatine the time. "For me, helium was astir apt -- nevertheless you enactment it -- 1 of the apical 5 oregon six players successful this draft. As we got calls aft the pick, different teams kept calling america telling us, 'He was successful our apical 5 players successful the draft.' For us, the worth astatine that constituent was astonishing that helium was there."

Playing safety, Fitzpatrick started 11 games arsenic a rookie and finished the play with 2 interceptions. But the Dolphins fired manager Adam Gase aft the season, and caller manager Brian Flores changed Fitzpatrick to a much fluid relation -- 1 for which Fitzpatrick said helium was ill-suited.

In Miami's ...