In town to clean up the beaches, ex-Dolphin Kenyan Drake comes clean on time in Miami
Our first impression of Kenyan Drake Tuesday was just how happy he is.
To be sure, it’s hard to be dreary on a perfect January afternoon at Virginia Key Beach Park.
Drake was back in town to help spearhead the beach cleanup event organized by Ocean Conservancy — the nonprofit which partnered with Miami’s Super Bowl host committee and helped clear more than 54 tons of trash from Florida’s beaches in the last year.
Drake loves the idea of taking care of our oceans and coastlines. He decided Ocean Conservancy’s event would be a perfect first trip back to South Florida since the Dolphins traded him to the Cardinals three months ago to the day.
“Living here for three years, getting to know the people, the culture, the ocean is what makes Miami Miami,” Drake said. “Conserving it, making sure we do our part, going out here and bringing awareness to this great cause is great for me.”
But weather and community service were only a part of his lightened mood. Professional fulfillment has made him a happy man too.
Drake badly needed a change of scenery after three and a half years as a Dolphin. In Arizona, he got everything he always wanted, but never could, from the team that drafted him.
“Life is good,” Drake told the Miami Herald. “I do what I love and I love what I do. My birthday was a couple days ago. I feel like at the end of the day, everything happens the way it’s supposed to. I just try to move and get better every day and be what I’m destined to be.”
Those who covered the Dolphins always knew he wasn’t happy with his role, but Drake was professional about it publicly. He didn’t rip his coaches and never demanded a trade in the press, even though that’s what he privately wanted.
The source of Drake’s discontent?
“I feel like at the end of the day, they had a plan of how they wanted to go in a direction,” Drake said. “I feel like I didn’t fit in that plan. I just feel like when they put in a specific role, just playing third down, or coming out and being a receiving back, I felt like I could run and be a little bit more productive.”
Events proved him correct. He had more rushing yards in eight games with the Cardinals (643) than he did in his rookie (179) and third (535) seasons in Miami. He carried the ball roughly 12 times per game in Arizona — which was twice his workload during his time with the Dolphins.
“I got a lot of touches,” Drake said. “I was able to be out on the field and impact on a lot of different levels. I just felt like I was able to go out there and play free without constraints, being in a specific roles.”
Without Drake, the Dolphins’ running game was a mess. Ryan Fitzpatrick ended up as the team’s leading rusher. However, the Dolphins did get a 2020 draft pick in return for a player that almost certainly was going to leave for free agency when the season ended.
Drake’s opinion of his usage is one shared by CBS analyst (and ex-Dolphins kicker) Jay Feely, and he told the assembled beach cleanup volunteers just that Tuesday afternoon.
“The Dolphins didn’t do a good job utilizing him,” said Feely, during his introductory remarks.
That’s in the past now. The future includes securing a new contract with the Cardinals or another team that values Drake as a featured back.
As for the present? Drake was more than happy to give back to an organization that has been a fixture in South Florida over the past year.
“We pulled out tons upon tons out of South Florida in particular and out of Miami,” said J.P. Brooker, the Ocean Conservancy’s senior manager and policy counsel. “It’s always surprising to see how much trash there is out there. Sometimes it feels like a monumental task, just a never-ending battle. But this is our bread-and-butter. This is what we do. We do see a difference after a clean-up and we know that is working. We’re going to keep doing it.”
