Miami teen’s football game honors dad who died from COVID

By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The night before Alan Arellano died of COVID-19, his wife recorded a short audio message with their two youngest sons. Doctors had placed the 49-year-old Miami man in a coma, but Karyn Arellano believed he could still hear their voices. Arellano died Aug. 27 after a second heart attack. During funeral preparations, his 16-year-old son A.J. reminded the family of a football game. His mom assured him he could skip it, but the teen insisted he had to play for his father, reminding her that daddy would be watching. Then on Monday, together with his siblings, he would bury his hero.