FIU might have a future star in this freshman tight end
The late Earl Fairweather was such a soccer fan that he named two of his sons after Brazilian futbol stars Rivaldo and Ronaldo.
As it turns out, 17-year-old Rivaldo Fairweather has earned a scholarship in football as a 6-4, 240-pound tight end for the FIU Panthers. Fairweather is the rare high school tight end who shows the elite ability to track passes 50 yards downfield.
But Fairweather, an incoming freshman who is set to report to FIU next month, is a very late bloomer, having never put on shoulder pads or a helmet before the 11th grade. He was a varsity basketball player at first, but he fouled out of most games due to his aggressiveness.
That led him to football, where Fairweather served mostly as Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson’s punter as a junior. However, he broke out as a senior, making 40 catches for 812 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“I always had the hunger to be good,” said Fairweather, the middle child out of five. “My mom [Michelle, a nurse] has worked hard to provide for us. I try to go all out for her. Football is the way I can pay her back.”
Fairweather was in the fourth grade when his father died in his sleep due to a heart attack.
“I was getting ready for school, and I went to wake him up. He died in my hands,” Fairweather said. “I was devastated.
“That whole year, I didn’t do anything. I was very quiet. I was traumatized.”
Ronaldo, now 21, became a young father figure for Rivaldo Fairweather, who also relied on sports to help him cope with his loss. Fairweather soon formed a brotherhood at Boyd Anderson, and he’s hoping the same thing happens once he gets on campus at FIU.
For now, Fairweather talks nearly every day to FIU tight ends coach Drew Davis, son of head coach Butch Davis.
The Panthers already have one established tight end in the NFL in Jonnu Smith, a Tennessee Titans third-round pick in 2017 who is coming off a career-best 35-catch season. The Titans made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game last season, thanks in part to Smith, whose one-handed touchdown catch helped the team earn a 28-12 playoff win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Smith – who played for FIU’s previous coaching staff — and Fairweather have already formed a bond.
“I text [Smith], and he’s been helping me [with advice],” Fairweather said. “He’s somebody I look up to because he made it to the NFL from FIU and at my position. I feel I can do the same thing.”
Fairweather, who has gained 30 pounds of muscle in the past year-plus, has shown impressive athleticism on tape. Boyd Anderson coach Darion Gray often split Fairweather out wide, and with good results, but it wasn’t an immediate success.
“In the [2019] spring game, we targeted him eight times, and he caught just one. It was horrible,” Gray said. “His hands weren’t very soft, and route-running was new to him.”
Fairweather had a breakthrough this past August when he responded to Gray’s call to not only practice with the team but also work out on his own.
From that day, Fairweather became a leader. At first, he was BA’s deep threat, using what Gray said is 4.6 speed in the 40.
“Then we started throwing him comebacks and hitches,” Gray said. “We would throw him a 2-yard pass and watch him break three or four tackles.
“As a blocker, we’d see him push guys 15 yards downfield, drive them out of bounds.”
Gray soon designed drills to improve Fairweather’s ability to jump up and grab passes over defenders. There was also a drill in which Gray would send defenders at Fairweather, two at a time and 12 in total, with all of them trying to force a fumble.
“He was mad,” Gray said. “He said, ‘Why are you attacking me like this?’ But he went through everybody, and he didn’t fumble all season.”
Fairweather plans to major in sports/recreation management or business. His other scholarship offers out of high school included Western Kentucky but not Miami.
Twice last season, Fairweather had three-touchdown games — against Northeast and Barron Collier.
Unlike his namesake — the Brazilian Rivaldo, who usually lifts his shirt over his head to celebrate his scores — Fairweather’s favorite end-zone move is to flex his muscles.
“I get an energetic feeling in my entire body when I score,” Fairweather said. “It’s exciting.”