February is one month when many are focused on showing love. But the love one NFL player showed to a fan wasn’t the romantic love that Valentine’s Day often makes us think of. This NFL star showed a self-less kind of fatherly love when he showed up to escort the 11-year-old Pflugerville girl named Audrey Soape to her daddy-daughter dance at her church.
The Story Behind the NFL Player Taking an 11-year-old Pflugerville Girl to a Daddy-Daughter Dance
NFL player, Anthony Harris of the Philadelphia Eagles is Audrey Soape’s idol. Along with her dad and other members of her family, the 11-year-old Pflugerville, Texas resident had been following Anthony Harris’ football career for years. Active in how she followed the football player, the 11-year-old Pflugerville girl had messaged Anthony multiple times. She’d sent messages of sympathy when she’d learned he’d had a loved one who’d passed, and she’d sent encouragement to him regarding his game. And to her surprise, Anthony had responded to Audrey every time.
Speaking of the NFL player, Audrey said, “He was the reason that actually inspired me to play football and I just love watching him play.”
The family were such involved superfans of Anthony Harris that, he knew intimate details about them, such as how Audrey had lost her father back in March of 2021.
Audrey’s mother, Holly Soape explains, “He knew who we were. He knew that her dad had passed away and offered his condolences when that happened, but we never met him.”
That’s why Holly thought of Anthony Harris when she was thinking ahead about her 11-year-old girl experiencing her daddy-daughter dance without her father. In addition to the loss of her father, she had also lost her grandfather only five months following the passing of her father. Knowing that Audrey’s father wouldn’t be there for the daddy-daughter dance, and neither would her grandfather, Holly’s heart was sad thinking about how this annual church event might feel for Audrey.
Audrey’s mother recalled how much thought she put into this “If I was going to make it special, I knew I had to make it really special.”
As the 11-year-old girl’s mother describes it, the daddy-daughter dance “was something that meant a lot to her. She had gone to them in the past with her dad and her grandfather who she lost as well. This was sort of a sensitive thing coming up.”
Thinking of Audrey’ idol, Anthony Harris, her mom said, “So, when the dance was coming up, I decided I would just go for it and see what he said and luckily he said yes.”
The mother of the 11-year-old Pflugerville girl knew that she and her family had reached out with messages of care when he was grieving and that he might be willing to return the sentiment. Holly said, “When we were grieving, he showed up for us as well.”
And show up, he did!
Hundreds of people shared the news story to their own personal feeds on Facebook.
Anthony showed up to the front door of this Pfluggerville girl to take her to the daddy-daughter dance!
Talking about that moment, Audrey said, “I knew he was going to come out of the car, but when he pulled up I was like, ‘oh what’ and when he stepped out I was like, ‘he really came.’ It was crazy and a big rush of nerves came on.”
When asked, “Were you the coolest kid at the dance,” she responded “Totally!”