Discussing a rather unconventional encounter:
Mike McDaniel was determined to pursue love without any hindrance. In a peculiar turn of events, the Miami Dolphins head coach’s romantic journey was revealed during the NFL’s inaugural Black Friday game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets, narrated humorously by Al Michaels of Prime Video.
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The anecdote unfolds during McDaniel’s tenure as the running backs coach for the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the United Football League. Observing that one of his running backs was engaged in a dance with his future wife, McDaniel, with a strategic move, leveraged his position on the team to secure what he desired.
“They blow out Omaha, they go to a nightclub to celebrate,” Michaels said. “One of the running backs that he coaches is dancing with a girl, and Mike says ‘Listen, you’re not dancing with her anymore, or you’re not playing with this team next year.’”
Michaels mentioned that when the player stepped back, McDaniel seized the opportunity and enthusiastically joined in, taking over the dance floor.
In 2014, four years after their encounter at the club, Katie Hemstalk, the girl from that memorable night, became Mike McDaniel’s wife. Surprisingly, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was unaware of this story until Al Michaels shared it with him before Friday’s game.
“I told [Dolphins owner] Stephen Ross before the game, and he said, ‘What? That’s the best story I’ve ever heard,'” Michaels revealed.
Since their union in 2014, Mike and Katie McDaniel have built a life together, welcoming their first daughter in 2020. This narrative adds another intriguing layer to McDaniel’s already captivating journey, considering he began as a former Yale walk-on receiver and had his initial exposure to the NFL as a ballboy for the Denver Broncos in the mid-1990s.
