TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0) linebacker Shaq Barrett played a pivotal role in the team’s 27-17 win against the Chicago Bears.
Barrett sealed the game with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter when he returned an interception for a touchdown.
“In that play, [it] was in slow motion,” Barrett said. “I was standing up there being pushed for five seconds. In hindsight, it was probably like two [or] three seconds. I don’t even know if it was that long, but that was the most tiring play of the game for me.”
That play also shined a spotlight on his late daughter, two-year-old Arrayah, whom his family lost tragically in a pool drowning in April.
“I always played for my family already,” he said. “But then having that extra incentive and making me want to go a little harder for it. It never stops, and it [is] always going to suck, but at least I’m able to shine some spotlight on her a little bit.”
Barrett is a nine-year NFL veteran, and that was his first career touchdown. He believes that the special moment was the work of Divine intervention.
“Camera was on me after I made the play. I told her, ‘I love you, miss you, wish she was here,’” he said.
“It’s unbelievable. You can’t even fathom going through something like that,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said. “To see him go through it and come out on the other side –I am sure he still has days, but to play like he is playing right now, to be where he is right now, it’s unbelievable.”
Barrett also said that Array’s death was weighing on him so much that he struggled to take the field in week one against Minnesota — but he didn’t face it alone.
“Literally, last week before the game, I was struggling last week, like struggling really bad,” Barrett said. “Like I had to stop crying, calling my wife, coaches checked in on me, but then out the blue, everything went away, and I was able to focus on the game. Everybody, my wife, were praying for me. I actually felt the wave of emotions like slide to the side, and I was able to focus. So, I was able to feel the power of prayer.”
Not only did Barrett have a pick-six in Sunday’s game, but he also recorded a sack, becoming the first Bucs’ player to do that in the same game since 1999.
