Since the beginning of this football season, Eli Harold’s life has been a whirlwind. From getting traded from San Francisco to Detroit, to moving multiple times along the way, he has been through a lot and that too all while having a child due in the first month of the season.
But he really had no idea just what the baby’s arrival would be like until it arrived and it was certainly unconventional.
The Lions pass rusher was excused from last Wednesday’s practice since his wife, Kelsey, needed a prenatal checkup. It was then that the couple learned that she was having contractions. However, they were sent home and they scheduled a visit for next morning.
It was at around 10 p.m on Wednesday when Harold received a call from his head coach. He virtually had no idea what Matt Patricia might have to say regarding this matter, and he remembers being very nervous about it.
Harold said that “He was 100 percent supportive. We were talking late at night and obviously, he was game-planning and everything, but he was supportive and told me to take as much time as I needed to be with my family and make sure the baby is healthy and fine.”
The baby was born healthy but not until 8 a.m. Friday after a back-up at maternity ward. That’s when a cute little girl named Zuri entered his life.
That is how Harold ended up missing the three days of practice and then Sunday’s game against the Packers. He watched the game, a 31-23 win from his home with the baby in his arms.
It wasn’t exactly as he had planned it to be. He wanted go out there for the first divisional game and a chance to beat Aaron Rodgers. He wanted to continue to build on a season that has already gotten off to a super fast start for him with three sacks in as many games.
But things worked out just fine in the end after all the time waiting.
Harold said that it was a huge win and it couldn’t have come at a better time: Bye week, baby is born. It was perfect, he added.
