Kenyan Drake, scored winning touchdown in Dolphins’ ‘Miami Miracle,’ retires after eight seasons

Kenyan Drake, who scored the Miami Dolphins’ stunning, winning touchdown against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium in 2018 on a multi-lateral final play that has been termed ‘The Miami Miracle,’ announced his retirement on his social-media accounts on Friday.

Drake, drafted in the third round in 2016, played 54 games with Miami before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional draft pick during the Dolphins’ stripping down of their roster in an effort to land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

On Dec. 9, 2018, the defending AFC champion Patriots, at 9-3, led 33-28 with :07 left and the Dolphins at their 31-yard line. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill took a 10-yard dropback to the 21 and then fired a 26-yard laser to Kenny Stills down the right seam. Stills circled away from Jonathan Jones, finding DeVante Parker to his right and shoveling the ball 5 yards to a suddenly wide-open Parker at the Miami 46.

Parker, with J.C Jackson in pursuit, dished again to his right from the Dolphins’ 49, connecting with Drake at their 48. The halfback maintained his balance at the Patriots’ 43 after a diving tackle attempt from behind by Kyle Van Noy. Drake cut inward to his left at the 39, initially looking for another lateral target. However, he sensed an opening and aggressively cut up the field. An eradicating block by guard Ted Larsen on Patriots defensive back Patrick Chung (which probably would have been flagged under today’s rules) put Drake into the wide open at the New England 32, with only slow-footed start tight end Rob Gronkowski between him and the end zone.

At the 25-yard line, Drake jetted toward the right sideline. A stumbling Gronkowski futilely made a dive attempt at the goal line, but Drake went in basically untouched for a 34-33 upset, setting off a jubilant pandemonium.

The Dolphins moved to 7-6, but it would be the final win of Drake’s Miami career, as the team lost its final three games to finish 7-9. The undermanned 2019 Dolphins then were beaten in their first six games, and that was when Drake was dealt.

The Patriots lost home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, but still went on to win the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams.

After the Dolphins had gone 11 consecutive drafts (2005-2015) without selecting a player from Alabama, Drake’s third-round selection in 2016 began a run where five players from the Crimson Tide were taken by Miami in a 39-selection span through the first-round pick of Jaylen Waddle in 2021. In between, Miami also took safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (2018), quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (2020) and defensive tackle Raekwon Davis (2020).