As an NFL player, the day before your first game is full of nervous energy. This was the case for wide receiver Skye Dawson. But, unfortunately for the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player, everything kept changing a few hours before the game.

“Game day morning comes, and I’m at team breakfast eating. The general manager came and tapped me on the shoulder and told me, ‘We’re gonna go in a different direction, and we’re cutting you today. And we got your plane ticket ready and set for tomorrow morning to leave to go back home to Dallas,” Skye Dawson said in a video shared on his Instagram account.

After this sudden decision, the Buccaneers’ then-GM Mark Dominik re-signed Skye Dawson, after which the TCU product made his NFL debut against the Carolina Panthers. In this NFC South clash, Dawson recorded his first career reception and recorded nine yards in three snaps. Still, a touchdown eluded him all season.

“So while my teammates got in their vehicles or got in their cars to go to the stadium for the game, I got in my car to go back to my apartment. I was in tears. I was confused,” Dawson added. “Then my phone rang. It was my agent calling me to tell me to call my receiver coach immediately. So I call my receiver coach, and he tells me, ‘We changed our mind. Get to the stadium ASAP, Sky. You’re playing today, and not only are you playing, but you’re also starting.”

After the uncanny set of events, Skye Dawson never got a proper opportunity to showcase his talents in the NFL, as he joined the Detroit Lions in January 2015 but never played a game with the NFC North side in January 2015 before being released in May.

Dawson also played a season in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders. After that, Dawson dedicated his life to training the next generation as he took on a coaching role with various universities.

How Skye Dawson turned to coaching

After leaving the gridiron, Skye Dawson was named as the head coach of the men’s cross country and track and field programs at Florida A&M University in 2019.

The former Tampa Bay receiver was part of the FAMU men’s and women’s track & field staff as the assistant coach for sprints & hurdles in April 2017.

Dawson was promoted to a permanent coach position in 2019. The reason for this transition was that Dawson was a track star and a record holder across four events at Dallas Christian. He ranked in the top 10 in the nation in the 100 meters coming out of high school.

In 2008, Dawson also took home the state title in the 200m with a 20.69-second time. He also ranked Top 5 in the nation while setting the TAPPS state record with a long jump of 25-1/2 and 37.7 in the 300m hurdles.

These accolades helped him secure a full athletic scholarship for football and track with TCU and begin his football career.

Skye Dawson’s NFL career was brief and turbulent, but he found his true calling by returning to his roots, channeling his athletic background into coaching and shaping the next generation.