Chris Perkins: Hurricane Milton has several Dolphins players concerned about family, friends

MIAMI GARDENS — Safety Marcus Maye left the Miami Dolphins facility on Tuesday and drove up Florida’s east coast about two hours to his hometown of Melbourne. He said his mom and other relatives are scrambling to prepare for Hurricane Milton, which is poised to slam into Florida’s west coast late Wednesday or early Thursday as one of the most dangerous storms to ever hit the area, and then embark on a two-hour trip across the state while maintaining Category 2 or 3 status.

“Hopefully I can get the shutters up and come back down here,” Maye said.

Hurricane Milton isn’t supposed to hit Broward, Palm Beach or Miami-Dade counties although schools in Broward and Palm Beach are closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Throughout the Dolphins locker room Tuesday, there were players paying attention to the storm — running back Raheem Mostert, tight end Jonnu Smith, offensive tackle Bayron Matos, to name a few — whether players are from Florida, Georgia or even the Carolinas. That’s because some had family or friends affected by Hurricane Helene recently.

Hurricane Milton has affected the NFL and college football in Florida.

The Dolphins are on a bye this week.

So are the sixth-ranked University of Miami and Florida State.

Florida is at No. 8 Tennessee at 7 p.m. Saturday. That game should be OK.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are already in New Orleans ahead of Sunday’s game. They left Tuesday.

The Memphis at South Florida game originally scheduled for Friday has been pushed back to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Cincinnati at UCF is still scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

A game with a lesser storm danger, North Texas at FAU, should be able to be played as scheduled at 7 p.m.

The Dolphins’ organization, as you would assume, is familiar with hurricanes altering their plans.

The most recent was 2017 when the threat of Hurricane Irma postponed their season opener against Tampa Bay, originally scheduled for Sept. 10, to Nov. 19.

Maye said his mother doesn’t want to leave Melbourne. Her sisters are there along with other relatives.

“Her whole life is there,” he said.

Maye, the eight-year veteran who attended Florida, said he’s tried to get his mom to leave Melbourne and come to South Florida and stay with him. She won’t leave.

“The house is pretty solid,” Maye said.

Mostert, the 10th-year player who hails from New Smyrna Beach, which is located on Florida’s east coast about four hours north of South Florida, is having his beach house rebuilt in that area. He has relatives in the Daytona area.

He’s concerned.

“It’s getting ugly up there,” he said.

He said some relatives are heading north.

That might not have been a wise strategy a couple of weeks ago when former Hurricane Helene came roaring through as a powerful storm.

Rookie cornerback Storm Duck, who hails from Boiling Springs, N.C., said some of his relatives in Spartanburg, S.C. just got power back yesterday after living without electricity for almost two weeks.

Offensive tackle Kendall Lamm, who hails from Charlotte, N.C., which is roughly 80 miles from Duck’s hometown, said his family is largely OK. But he’s on alert.

Smith, the seven-year veteran who hails from Ocala, said he’s concerned about his aunt, uncle and other relatives in Ocala, and his wife’s family in Tampa.

“They’re going to ride it out,” he said. “My faith is in God. I’m praying for the best.”

Long snapper Blake Ferguson, the fifth-year player who hails from Smyrna, Ga., said his family made it through Helene just fine, and it appears they’ll be OK for Hurricane Milton, which isn’t expected to eventually head to Georgia.

Still, players are on edge.

Matos, a rookie who is on the practice squad, attended the University of South Florida, which is located in Tampa.

He still has lots of friends in the Tampa area.

“I’ve heard from them,” he said. “It’s rough.”

Matos, being from the Dominican Republic, has a bit of a different perspective on hurricanes. He said he’s been through four or five hurricanes.

He said a couple of times they’d go outside and play in the rain.

“That’s normal for us in D.R.,” he said.

But he still takes these storms seriously.

“I see the outcome,” he said. “It’s scary.”

Matos was at USF in 2022 when their game against East Carolina was moved to FAU due to the threat of Hurricane Ian. East Carolina won, 48-28.

Matos said he’s concerned about those in the Tampa area, where Hurricane Milton could make landfall. Milton is the strongest storm in the Gulf since Hurricane Rita in 2005.

“I pray for my friends and my people that are still in that area,” Matos said.