Morris Claiborne was in the middle of a walkthrough practice last summer when he got the call 鈥?finally 鈥?that he was eagerly anticipating.
It was time for his twin daughters to enter the world.
A New York Jets trainer had the cornerback's cellphone and was tasked with letting him know if and when Claiborne's now-wife Jennifer was heading to the hospital.
"I remember I saw the trainer walking on the field and he gave me Good Sellers For Fake NFL Jerseys , like, a look," Claiborne recalled in an interview with The Associated Press at the family's home. "I just ran. I took off running. I grabbed my phone from him and I went to Coach (Todd) Bowles and I was like, 'Coach, it's time,' and he was like, 'All right, congratulations.'
"And I remember just running out of the building and running to the hospital, and when I got up there I just looked at her."
It was July 30, 2017, and Jennifer was 35 weeks along 鈥?two weeks before her scheduled cesarean section. But her water broke while she was watching the couple's two English Bulldogs outside their home. She had to immediately head to Morristown Medical Center, about 2 1/2 miles away.
Meanwhile, Morris zipped from the Jets' training facility in Florham Park to the hospital just over 3 miles away in time to be there to welcome his daughters.
"He came and it all happened within the hour," Jennifer recalled. "It happened so fast, it was scary."
Doctors performed the C-section and first delivered Ma'Kaila, who was quite underweight at 3 pounds, 8 ounces.
Ma'Liah came a few moments later, weighing in at a more robust 4 pounds, 13 ounces.
Ma'Kaila was immediately taken to the neonatal intensive care unit, separated from her sister 鈥?and mother 鈥?for the first time.
"I was asking, 'Is everything OK?'" Morris said. "They were like Tell Authentic And Replica NFL Jerseys , 'She's good. Everything's good. It's just that she's underweight 鈥?too underweight.' They wanted to take her back and start feeding her and try to get her to gain some weight."
Ma'Kaila stayed in the NICU for the next two weeks, working up the strength to be sent home to her parents and sister.
Jets' Morris Claiborne is a happy father after his newborn twins gave him a scare last summer.
For Morris, who was entering his first season with the Jets on a one-year, prove-it deal after four years with the Cowboys, it was a whirlwind of anxiety and excitement.
Somehow, he needed to keep his mind focused on football, while also wanting to make sure his wife and daughters had everything they needed while he was working.
"Oh, man," he said, shaking his head. "We'd have meetings early in the morning and we had to stay over at the (players') hotel, but Coach was giving me a little time to come here and stay with (Jennifer and Ma'Liah) instead of going to the hotel. I'd come (home) after meetings. We'd get done around 11 or so and I'd come here, check on her and make sure everything's OK with her and then I'd head up to the hotel for curfew and we'd FaceTime all night."
Claiborne's coaches and teammates never knew of the hectic routine he was keeping throughout the summer.
Playbooks and Pampers.
Meetings and feedings.
Football and baby blankets.
"I don't care if it was 10 minutes, I live so close to the facility that I was running home every single break to check on them and see if everything's OK and then I'd get back to my job," he said. "It was like that for a while, for the whole training camp. ... It was chaos, but it was fun."
Claiborne was in for the biggest surprise of all on Aug. 15 when he arrived home during a short break.
"I was like, 'Babe, come here, look,'" Jennifer called out to him. "I was like NFL Blog , 'Can you watch her real fast?' And I was speaking of Ma'Liah."
But she had brought Ma'Kaila home from the hospital earlier in the day and had both girls in the bed, laying them beside her with a video camera set on record to capture the moment.
"I wasn't expecting to see both of them at all," a wide-eyed Claiborne recalled. "I wasn't ready for it at all. When I walked in, I was so used to seeing her (Ma'Liah) in the bed when I'd come in, and when I saw both of them laying there, my heart just dropped.
"I was like, 'Oh, my God.' It really hit me: We've got twins at the house. This is real now."
Ma'Liah and Ma'Kaila are now 10 1/2 months old, healthy and full of personality.
Ma'Liah, according to Jennifer, is the more demanding of the two, and "she's a Daddy's girl." Ma'Kaila is still slightly smaller than her sister, but is more independent 鈥?moving around on her own, playing and feeding herself.
"It gave me a sense of what I'm really playing football for, what I'm really doing it for," said the 28-year-old Claiborne, who re-signed with the Jets on another one-year deal in the offseason. "It's for my family and bringing these two precious little babies into the world, it opened my eyes to a much bigger picture.
"I've really learned that it's not about yourself. Once you have kids, it's about the kids, but I think I got a re-understanding of that once these two babies were born. I enjoy every moment of it."
The family was planning to fly to its home in Dallas over the weekend to join Claiborne's son Morris, who turns 9 in November 2018 Good Sellers For Fake NFL Jerseys , and daughter Madicyn, who's 3, for a special Father's Day.
"Having these girls made me understand that I really missed some valuable time with my son, but I was off in college (at LSU) and there was nothing I could really do about that," Claiborne said. "My mindset was on making a way to feed him at that time. Just having them made me realize how much time at this age that I really missed that I would've loved to be there.
"I missed t The Los Angeles Kings believe they are still Stanley Cup contenders, even after being swept by the upstart Vegas Golden Knights in the first round. How close they are to that goal might be reflected in how negotiations go with defenseman Drew Doughty this summer.
General manager Rob Blake said Friday that working out a contract extension with Doughty is the team’s top priority. The Kings and Doughty can begin holding talks on July 1, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the 2018-19 season.
”I always wanted to be an LA King and I want to stay an LA King,” Doughty said.
Doughty is one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy presented to the league’s top defenseman after winning it in 2016. He had 10 goals and 50 assists in his most productive NHL season yet, but Doughty believes he can still improve his scoring output.
”I wasn’t too happy with my goal totals this year,” Doughty said. ”I think I only maybe scored one or two one-timer goals, which in my career probably half of my goals are one-timer goals, so I was pretty disappointed about that this year. I can definitely improve on that and have an even better season and hopefully set some new career-highs.”
The Kings scored just three goals in four games against the Golden Knights. Developing a more reliable offense is the one glaring weakness that needs be addressed, and lifting the Stanley Cup for the third time is a reasonable goal provided it gets solved going into next season.
”Everybody is still here that was here in ’14 and almost in ’12 for that matter, too, so we’re not that far off,” center Anze Kopitar said. ”It’s going to take a lot of work, yes, but we’re not far off.”
CAREER YEARS
Kopitar set personal bests with 35 goals and 57 assists while averaging a career-high 22:05 of playing time. His 92 points represented a 40-point improvement over his lackluster 2016-17, leading Kopitar to joke he is ”aging like wine.” Dustin Brown had 61 points to top his previous high of 60 set in 2007-08, his fourth season in the league. Doughty broke free with 60 points after reaching the 50-point plateau once in the previous seven seasons. Doughty’s usual defensive partner, Jake Muzzin 5 Ways To Tell Authentic And Replica NFL Jerseys (Real VS Fake) , had 42 points. Even depth forward Trevor Lewis got into the act with 26 points and 14 goals in his most productive campaign.
FORWARD THINKING
Rookie Adrian Kempe was fourth on the team with 16 goals despite not finding the back of the net in the final 29 games of the regular season. Stepping in at center when Jeff Carter missed 55 games following surgery to repair a cut tendon in his ankle, Kempe showed a surprising toughness to go along with his natural quickness. If Kempe can continue to develop, he could decrease the reliance on Kopitar, who will be 31 when next season starts, and the 33-year-old Carter.
”I’m pretty sure he’ll be the first one to tell you he can offer more, and that’s a learning process,” Kopitar said. ”That’s his first full year in the league. Speaking from experience, it takes a little bit of time to figure out your routines and what’s working for you and what’s not.”
LOOKING FOR DEPTH
Short of dealing in the offseason, the Kings should return essentially the same roster next season. Speedy forward Tobias Rieder is a restricted free agent, and Torrey Mitchell is an unrestricted free agent. The 25-year-old Rieder showed some chemistry with Carter, posting four goals and two assists in 20 games. Defensemen Christian Folin and Kevin Gravel are both unrestricted free agents.
HOME IMPROVEMENT NEEDED
The Kings went 23-15-3 at home, the second-fewest wins by a playoff team. It seemed like they were getting better as the season went on, going 9-4-0 down the stretch, only to lose both home playoff games and fall to 0-5 at Staples Center in their last two postseasons. Their 118 goals at home in the regular season was tied for 21st in the NHL. The power play contributed 25 percent of that output, underscoring the need for 5-on-5 improvement.
COMING ATTRACTION
Clearly in need of more contributors on offense, center Gabriel Vilardi could be an option for the Kings next season. Selected No. 11 overall in the 2017 draft, Vilardi has been a force in the OHL playoffs with 11 goals and nine assists in his first 12 postseason games. Vilardi also has the size and 200-foot game that fit a Kings team that still emphasizes defense.
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