This FIU recruit was placed in foster care and he has flourished after being adopted

Sally Pilgrim met her son, Daniel Pilgrim, when he was four months old.

Placed in Sally’s foster care, Daniel was sleeping in his car seat during the early moments of their first encounter.

“I set Daniel down in the kitchen,” Sally said. “I’m looking at this precious baby boy, and I’m wondering: ‘What’s your story? Why wouldn’t anyone do whatever it takes to keep you’?”

This meeting happened on July 2, 2003 — one day before Sally’s birthday.

“What a great early birthday present,” Sally said.

Three years later, Sally legally adopted Daniel, and, in the 14 succeeding years, that one-time baby boy has grown into a 6-3, 210-pound senior at North Fort Myers.

Rutgers recruited him as a linebacker, but Pilgrim chose the FIU Panthers because he wanted to play offense, specifically tight end.

“I love catching the ball, running with it and scoring touchdowns,” said Pilgrim, a 17-year-old who is interested in studying real estate. “There’s no better feeling.”

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Sally Pilgrim, who is raising Daniel as a single mother, had two childhood dreams that she has since realized: becoming a special-education teacher and becoming a foster parent.

She had three biological children. Then, more than a decade after her youngest child was born, she adopted three more kids, including Daniel’s biological brother, Aundre.

All three of her adopted children are Black, and the mixed-race family has been subjected to everything from uncomfortable stares to outright racism.

“When Daniel was little,” Sally said, “he asked me: ‘Why do people stare at us?’

“I told him: ‘As far as I’m concerned, you came out of my womb, and God mixed up the colors. I’m OK with that if you’re OK with that.”

Daniel, who barely knows his biological parents, has handled a great deal of adversity in his life, and he has achieved a lot already, including earning the football scholarship to FIU.

“He has such a great personality, you would never know what he has endured,” Sally said. “Everyone loves Daniel. He has a heart of gold, and I’m proud of who he has become.”

Daniel, meanwhile, holds no grudges against anyone.

“I forgave long ago,” he said of his birth parents. “I would like to meet them to get to know them better.

“But I’m not mad. There’s no point in holding anger against something that can’t be changed.”

JOY OF FOOTBALL

Pilgrim, who plans to sign in December and enroll at FIU in January, has been promising his mother — since age five — that he will one day play in the NFL.

“I love the game — it’s a team sport,” Pilgrim said. “I’m ready to go to FIU and block, play tight end or catch passes out of the slot. They told me they will use me in different ways.”

Pilgrim is so athletic that he ran a kickoff back for a touchdown last year in a 49-28 playoff loss to Fort Myers. Prior to that game, he had never been used as a kick returner.

Overall, Pilgrim has scored nine career TDs in three varsity seasons, and his play helped North Fort Myers record an 8-1 record this year, including a 17-7 playoff loss to Naples. On receptions alone, Pilgrim — in 23 career games — had 30 catches for 531 yards and eight touchdowns.

Pilgrim has also competed in track, wrestling and basketball.

“He can run like a deer, and we split him out wide as a receiver,” North Fort Myers coach Dwayne Mack said. “He’s a pretty good blocker, too. He puts [defensive backs] on the ground.”

Sally, of course, never misses one of Daniel’s games. She attends while wearing a red North Fort Myers T-shirt with his name and number (19). She also brings a cowbell, and Daniel said he can always hear it during games.

“It’s good and loud,” Sally said, “and I ring it a lot.”

Indeed, she’s been celebrating Daniel since that summer day more than 17 years ago.