Ferguson Family Affair Exciting for Long-Snapper
Miami Dolphins rookie Blake Ferguson had a smile on his face and a quick laugh Friday when he conducted a Zoom media session.
Beyond the thrill of getting his NFL career started, Ferguson was more than happy to discuss the upcoming matchup against the Buffalo Bills and his first opportunity to go head-to-head with his older brother.
Blake Ferguson followed his brother Reid at LSU, extending the family stranglehold as the program's long-snappers for eight years.
Now, they're on different teams in the NFL set to meet for the first time Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium."
It’s going to be a fun game," Ferguson said. "Obviously this is something that we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It was a dream of ours as kids, and this dream is quickly coming for fruition. We’re looking forward to it on both sides.”
Blake Ferguson joined the Dolphins as a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft, a smoother path to the NFL than Reid, who went undrafted in 2016 and spent his rookie season on the Bills practice squad before earning the job the following year.
As one would expect, Reid has provided a lot of guidance to his younger brother as he prepared for his football journey to reach the NFL, though the brotherly love had to be put to the side a bit this week.
“It’s been somewhat limited," Blake said about conversations with his brother. "He and I are trying to allow each other to focus on the game. We spoke pretty heavily last week just leading up to my first NFL game. That was good to know that he’s looking out for me and he wants me to succeed. This week has been somewhat limited. We’ve checked in to seen how the week of practice has gone. It’s all business this week. Just trying to help the team win.”
For their home opener at Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins will allow a maximum of 13,000 fans — 20 percent of capacity — to attend the game. Two of those who will be there will be Tracy and Kevin Ferguson.
They had not missed a game involving Reid or Blake for years until last weekend when no fans were allowed either in Buffalo or New England, where the Dolphins opened the season.
"I got on a Zoom call with one of my financial advisors the other day and my dad was on the call," Blake said. "As he was getting on the call, he was putting on an LSU shirt and I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He was like, ‘Well, you might not have been happy with the shirt I had on underneath.’ He had to quickly throw on his LSU shirt and we had a good time laughing about it. They are hoping for great play from both sides, from both myself and my brother. For us, it’s all business just trying to help the team win.
"Our parents have been incredibly supportive of both of us. Really, up until last week, they had not missed a single game since my brother went to LSU. They were at my brother’s games and my games while we were there. It was something like 100-something consecutive games. To us, that is incredibly special and just the support that they show every single week to make the travel arrangements, to miss work if they have to on a Friday or a Monday, just to be at our games, it mean so much to us. As much as we joke and banter about it, it’s going to be a great weekend. With them being in the stands this week, it’s going to be unreal.”
There obviously will be bragging rights at stake in what could be dubbed the Ferguson Bowl I, though Blake wasn't committing to anyone beyond that.
“We’ve talked about potentially taking a picture in the other team’s gear or something like that, but that may break contracts or something," Blake said. "I don’t know if there are rules against that on either side. (laughter) It’s bragging rights. We’ve been going back and forth since the day I was drafted in Miami. This is something that’s going to be a lot of fun. Mom and dad, I think, have the split jerseys so they are ready to rock both sides. It’s going to be great.”
