Full-Time Pass Rusher, Part-Time Baby Deliverer: Jaguars' Dawuane Smoot Helps Deliver Newborn Daughter
It's been a busy week for Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dawuane Smoot.
The fifth-year veteran traveled to London for a week and recorded a pair of tackles in the Jags' first win of the season against the Miami Dolphins, Smoot returned home to his very pregnant wife, Aumari.
While on the way to the hospital for the baby's birth around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, Aumari fell to her knees, ESPN's Adam Schefter said on Tuesday. The couple did not have enough time to get to the hospital in time for the baby to come, which meant Smoot had to deliver the baby himself.
After talking through with the paramedics over the phone, Smoot was able to tie the umbilical cord and deliver his daughter into the world, Ahlani Moon Smoot.
Smoot had this to say on his Instagram page:
For the past 9 months my wife ( @aumarismoot ) and I both dreamt of having our second child and first daughter but nothing could have prepared us for this. Seeing you collapse on the floor while walking out the door to the hospital was the scariest moment of my life. But seeing your strength to stay calm and not panick allowed me to realize everything was going to be okay. God had our back.
I can't thank you enough for being such a strong woman and bringing our daughter Ahlani Moon Smoot into this world at home. You are a true warrior. I trust God and the path he has my family on. I thank him for looking after my wife, Ahlani, Ahmir, and myself all this time. I will always owe you.
This is the couple's second child after welcoming their two-year-old son, Ahmir. Smoot is in his fifth season with the Jaguars after originally being drafted by the team in the third-round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Smoot appeared in 56 games with the Jaguars over his first four seasons, starting seven in the process. He recorded 11.5 sacks and 32 quarterback hits during his first contract with the Jaguars, with each of those sacks coming in 2019 and 2020. Following his two big seasons to end his rookie deal, Smoot signed a two-year deal with the Jaguars this March, re-signing with the team and moving into a larger role in their new-look defense.
"Throughout the offseason I kept getting asked, ‘Do you want to return? Do you want to return?’ Yeah, I love Jacksonville," Smoot said in August.
"I love the city. I bought a house here. My family loves it here. I’m not planning on leaving here for a long time.”
Smoot has appeared in all six games this season, starting three in the process and recording 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss, and seven quarterback hits, with three of those quarterback hits coming on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins in London.
Shortly after Smoot's big game against the Dolphins in the Jaguars' 23-20 victory in Week 6, Smoot became a father of two, delivering his second child just days after delivering several crushing hits to Tua Tagovailoa.
