The Miami Dolphins are one of the NFL’s most persistent teams in making a difference off the field. Miami, which won the NFL’s ‘Huddle For 100’ competition in 2019 to mark the league’s 100th year of competition, continues to invest in the South Florida community and serve as a positive resource for all kinds. For Miami Dolphins guard Solomon Kindley, the 2021 offseason will mark the first full offseason as a Miami Dolphin — and he’s extending the team’s charitable contributions beyond South Florida and taking it back to his hometown in Jacksonville and Raines School District.
Kindley recently donated 66 laptops (22 apiece) to three separate schools in his old stomping grounds — equalling his football number with the Dolphins.
“(Former players who passed through Raines) talked to me and it really stuck with me,” Kindley is quoted by Justin Barney of News4Jax.
“So, it was like, they can do it, I can do it. They came from the same part of the city where I’m from. They played at the same high school. They played just as good as me or even better, so it was like, ‘why can’t I do it?’ So, that’s my biggest thing. I want to give the kids and the community, and the kids at Raines, hope. You can do it, no matter what.”
Especially in the current climate, where so much learning and communication is dependent on technology, Kindley’s donations are sure to leave a mark on those he’s impacted — and the Dolphins quite clearly continue to value a lot of the right things in the people they target to bring into the organization.
Kindley served as a physical presence up front for the Dolphins’ remade offensive line in 2020, starting 13 games and tallying 70% of the Dolphins offensive snaps on the season as a 4th-round rookie. But his donation will make a much bigger, more important impact in the grand scheme of things; improving the education opportunities of 66 youth who will look to walk the same path Kindley did on his journey to early success in life.