Buccaneers' Shaq Barrett starting foundation in late daughter's name

Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Shaq Barrett spoke to the media Monday for the first time since the tragic death of his 2-year-old daughter, Arrayah, who drowned in the family’s swimming pool on April 30.

The start of training camp has been a welcome distraction for Barrett, who admitted that every day is a “tough battle.”

“It’s a daily battle, a tough battle. Today, I felt it heavier than I did the last couple of days. It comes in waves,” Barrett said, via Greg Auman of Fox Sports. “We just talk to each other, just lean on each other to get ourselves through, lean on the Lord as well. It doesn’t get any easier. Me being busy, keeping my mind off it for a little bit, but it’s tough. It’s always going to be tough.”

Barrett, whose right forearm features a tattoo of Arrayah’s smiling face, announced the launching of the Arrayah Hope foundation. The goal of Arrayah Hope is to provide swim lessons for young children in Tampa to prevent tragedies if they unexpectedly fall into the water. Barrett, 30, said he plans to expand to Colorado — the state where he attended college at Colorado State and began his NFL career with the Denver Broncos.

“We always had gates up, but we just left it open that night,” Barrett said. “We got more gates up and so we going to just talk about as much as possible about like swim lessons for other families and start AI cameras for other families.”

Shaq Barrett working his way back from tragedy, injury

Barrett and his wife Jordanna recently announced that they are expecting once again. Barrett and his wife have three other children, a daughter and two boys, and they’ll welcome another daughter in February 2024.

“It feels like we’re doing the best we can in the situation… to be honest and open with our emotions to each other and to our family, our friends and everybody who supports us,” Barrett said. “And not being afraid to be weak from time to time. Not even weak, just showing emotions. People have a stigma of being weak as showing emotion, but it’s not being weak… We’re strong together, we cry together. Everything we do, we do together, and that’s helping us stay closer together.”

In addition to tragedy in his personal life, Barrett is coming back from a season-ending Achilles tendon tear last October. Barrett, who set the team’s single-season sack record in 2019, leading the NFL with 19.5, is back as one of the veteran leaders on a talent-laden defense. The Buccaneers and head coach Todd Bowles are thrilled to have him back and healthy for the 2023 season.

“It feels great. It looks great,” Bowles said of Barrett, who has been a full participant at training camp. “I didn’t have any expectation coming in — I didn’t know when he was going to be ready. But the fact that he got cleared and the fact that he’s out here running around and chasing people at full-bore is a big plus for us – it’s a welcome sight.”