During Sunday's regular-season opener, the Miami Dolphins paid tribute to Aaron Feis, the offensive line coach and security guard who was among the 17 killed during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February.
Feis' wife, Melissa, and daughter, Arielle, were part of the ceremony honoring Feis with the George Smith High School Coach of the Year Award during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. They received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Coach Aaron Feis lost his life protecting students during the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 9, 2018
Today, we honored his legacy by presenting his wife and daughter the George Smith High School Coach of the Year Award. pic.twitter.com/4VA4EpqXfj
"It's an honor for all of us, really, for coach Feis to get the Coach of the Year Award," Marjory Stoneman Douglas football coach Willis May said, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
"If you knew him, you would appreciate that he got that award, because he really was a great man, mentor, friend and dad," May said. "For him to get the award was definitely an honor and well-deserved."
Feis, who was 37, ran into the building on the high school's Parkland, Florida, campus where the shooting was occurring and protected students from gunfire. May told the Sun-Sentinel in February that a student conveyed to him that Feis pushed her out of the line of fire while jumping between her and the shooter.
On Friday, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas football team improved to 2-0 when it won its first home game since February's mass shooting, the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. The school's athletic director, Chris Hixon, was among those killed. Seventeen others were injured.
The school paid tribute to the victims by painting the No. 17 on its logo at midfield, and players also wore the number on their helmets.