Dolphins fans, far and wide, were all smiles when Kenyan Drake sprinted into the end zone as time expired to stun the Patriots last December. Over the summer, the fourth-year running back capitalized on the lasting popularity of the play since hailed as the “Miami Miracle” to put smiles on the faces of hundreds of children who may have never seen him play a single down.

Drake has served as an ambassador for Smile Train, a nonprofit organization that provides free cleft and palate repair surgery in more than 85 developing countries, for the last two years. During that time, he’s visited hospitals and local homes in Mexico and Brazil, hosted a cocktail dinner in downtown Miami, and led a three-mile walk in Long Island, N.Y. to raise awareness for the charity.

During his recent trip to Rio de Janeiro treatment centers, the 25-year-old, in conjunction with Smile Train, came up with a way to utilize his elevated NFL platform to get more people involved in the cause. He posted an offer to his 150,000-plus Twitter followers: anyone who’d donate at least $15 to his fundraiser over a five-day span would receive an autographed photo of his biggest football moment.

With Week 2 bringing the Patriots back to Miami for the first time since Drake’s miraculous score, Dolfans NYC is using the opportunity to assist his philanthropic initiative. On Sep. 15, Slattery’s Midtown Pub will hold a pledge drive and raffle off memorabilia, collect unused dental items and make “get well soon” cards that will be distributed to children who’ve recently undergone cleft operations. All proceeds will go directly to Smile Train.

Drake, who also wore custom shoes representing the charity during the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” campaign last season, was inspired to join Smile Train after learning about its mission and recognizing how he could make a difference.

“A smile is the first thing you notice, and I just like to use my opportunity to go out there and really help people see their potential,” he said. “I feel like I’m a champion for the vulnerable and for people who don’t have a lot of the things that people in other countries may have just because of the circumstances they were born in.”

While touring international medical centers, he observed surgeries first-hand and helped spread positivity to children and their parents.

“When you go out there and give time and effort,” he said, “it gives them the ability to have a great (experience).”

In the days following his social-media campaign, the contributions, from the minimum $15 to over $250, kept pouring in, so Drake stayed busy signing in his free time, inscribing his name across stacks and stacks of 8×10 prints. There were too many to count, he said, but consider that just last week, he prepared the final 500 photos for delivery.

Drake set a $10,000 goal, enough to cover up to 40 surgeries; he raised nearly $14,000, and proceeded to personally match the total.

“I wanted to do that with my own funds to just show how invested I am in it,” he said. “I feel like my (position) definitely gives me the ability to impact the world.”

Among the prizes in Dolfans NYC’s upcoming raffle is a Dolphins mini helmet signed by No. 32. In addition, for every donated item and made card, members will receive a separate raffle ticket for a chance to win a football signed by Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas at the end of the season.

“It’s pretty cool to just be involved in that,” Drake said. “I feel that it’s definitely something worthwhile.”

This is a very different Miami Dolphins team from the last time we updated our website. The Dolphins have had a full 25% roster overhaul in the short time since we first put #MetLifeTakeover tickets on sale. The team that is suiting up this Sunday vs the Ravens is going to have a lot of new faces and may not be the juggernaut we expect from the Miami Dolphins, but we’ve been through tough seasons once or twice before and I am hopeful that looking back in a few years this will be the best thing to happen to us since we drafted Dan Marino.

The reason we started Dolfans NYC is because football is more fun when you are watching it with other people. The wins are better, but maybe more importantly, the losses are a lot better. You get to commiserate (and perhaps get very drunk) with people who know what you are going through. There aren’t a lot of places where you can make new friends as an adult but I know there are Dolphins fans that I will talk to for the rest of my life because of this club.

10 years ago when we founded Dolfans NYC we expected a few dozen people to walk into our bar Third & Long but by kickoff there was a line out the door. A few years later Third and Long sadly closed and we moved to Slattery’s Midtown Pub and once again on week one we packed the place despite being three times the size of our old home. The #MetLifeTakeover started with 35 people and grew to 70 and then 200 then 750 and it’s averaged over 1000 for the last 5 years. It’s been one hell of a ride and despite the team on the field I am very excited for our 10th season.

To celebrate our 10th season we have a BUNCH of new merch designed by one of our members Jackie who moved upstate and as a going away present made a bunch of stuff for us. You might have seen our 10 Years logo already but you haven’t seen these new shirts. We created a MIAMI NORTH shirt and tank top in the Miami Vice colorway that will look as good in your all white Air Force Ones in NYC as it will walking down South Beach in flip flops. We also have a 10 Years iron on patch for your jerseys and we have two new hats that are in the works.

For one week only (well more like 10 days) this stuff will be available to purchase online. Our regular merch store is closed while we are selling #MetLifeTakeover tickets because it’s impossible for us to deal with both at once, but next Sunday I am going to bring everything I need to ship home from Slattery’s and mail it out the next day. I don’t have time to be shipping constantly, but I can dedicate and afternoon to it. So if you want some of our new merch and you don’t live in the area here’s your chance to get some of our merch. We have our normal Dolfans NYC stuff in the shop as well. And remember, all proceeds go to charity. SHOP HERE.

Speaking of charity, for our 10th anniversary season, our goal is to donate $10,000 to charity and we will be making a donation to a different charity every week of the season. This Sunday we are doing a huge fundraiser for the Jason Taylor Foundation. They sent us a full sized Hall of Fame helmet signed by Jason that we will be raffling. We also have a signed ball that we will be auctioning off at Slattery’s. If you can’t make it to Slattery’s we are selling raffle tickets online as well. If you want a chance to win the helmet send $20 for every 5 tickets to DolfansNYC@gmail.com using PayPal. We will be drawing tickets during the 4th quarter of the Ravens game live on our Instagram so you can watch at home to see if you win.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that after emailing them for months we finally heard back from the Giants about trying to buy group tickets. We don’t have anything set in stone because they have been very slow responding, but it looks like we are going to be able to buy a small block of tickets in the lower level. We will be selling them for $150 which is a lot more than our Jets seats, but at least we get to be near the field for a change. If you don’t have your Giants tickets yet, you might want to hold off for a bit. Feel free to email us (DolfansNYC@gmail.com) to get on our email list when the tickets go on sale. For now, get your Jets tickets here!

Okay, that’s it! Sorry for the longer than normal post, but just so excited for our 10th season of Dolfans NYC! See you guys on Sunday! Phins up!

We are excited to announce that Dolfans NYC has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to receive 501(c)(3) status. Our rapidly-growing fan club is now officially a non-profit, charitable organization.

Under these new guidelines, we are able to continue raising funds for those less fortunate and hope to make an even bigger contribution in our local communities — both the New York metropolitan area and South Florida.

We are very grateful for the continued support of the Miami Dolphins organization. It is thanks to them that we are able to ramp up our events and take our fundraising goals to the next level. In addition, we are extremely fortunate to have such generous and kind-hearted members of our club, without whom our fundraising efforts would be impossible. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to them for their contributions over the years to all of the causes we have supported, including the Miami Dolphins Foundation, the victims of the Metro-North crash, Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, The Concern Foundation and many more.

In South Florida we have made an impact by donating annually to the Miami Dolphins Foundation, which provides support in South Florida communities under education, health and volunteerism initiatives. We have also made yearly donations to a number of riders participating in the Dolphins Cycling Challenge to raise money for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

We are looking forward to hosting our first fundraiser as a non-profit organization during our watch party on September 10th at Slattery’s Midtown Pub as the Miami Dolphins take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers week one of the 2017 NFL season.

Two weeks later, on September 24th, we are anticipating a record-setting crowd at our annual #MetLifeTakeover. Since 2013 we have brought an average of 1000 Dolphins fans to the Dolphins at Jets game in New Jersey. Part of every ticket sale goes to our charitable efforts and combined with raffle and merchandise sales it is far and away our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Going forward, Dolfans NYC aims to support the respective causes of past and present Miami Dolphins players, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Jarvis Landry), Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (Jay Ajayi) and the Anthony Fasano Foundation to name a few.

For any organizations affiliated with the Miami Dolphins or the NFL interested in partnering with us in our future fundraising efforts, please contact Michelle Kramers and Nate Igor Smith at DolfansNYC@gmail.com.

Make a tax deductible donation via PayPal here:

Miami Dolphins own Branden Albert has partnered with St. Louis Ram’s DE Chris Long to raise money for Chris’ charity Waterboys.org. The charity raises money to build wells for clean drinking water in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Aside from being an amazing cause, Chris Long came up with a great idea: If building a well costs $45,000 he could challenge one player from every NFL team to raise $45,000 and by seasons end they should hopefully have enough to build 32 wells.

Branden Albert is in 7th place right now but I know Dolfans can do better than that! Let’s show everyone that Dolphins fans are the best fans in the NFL. Dolfans NYC started things off with a $571 dollar donation but there is a long way to go!

Donating should be it’s own reward (and it’s tax deductible!) but I figured we could sweeten the pot. Anyone who makes a $25 donation we will give a shout out and follow on Twitter or send some Dolfans NYC stickers in the mail or something. First person to donate $100 can have our 300 level season tickets to the home opener vs the Buffalo bills. Anyone else who donates $100 will get a $20 credit for Dolfans NYC merch to be used at Slattery’s Midtown Pub or the #MetLifeTakeover.

Update: If you donate forward the confirmation to dolfansnyc@gmail.com. Thanks!

Let’s help our Pro Bowl  LT build a well! 

In unrelated news the fourth preseason game is no longer on national TV so we will NOT be doing an event at Slattery’s this Thursday but we will be ready to go for week one! See you at the bar!

I don’t need to start with the game last week or the way the Dolphins have been playing. Obviously it’s not making any Dolphins fan happy, but Dolfans NYC was founded with the goal of enjoying our Sunday’s and doing something positive at the same time. Win or lose we have more fun every week being with our Dolfan brothers and sisters at Slattery’s and this week we are doing something to help one of them out.

When I first moved to NYC almost exactly 8 years ago I googled “Dolphins Bars NYC” and a bar called Proof came up. When I got there there was only one other Dolphins fan. His name was John and we watched games together every week. At some point my Dolfans NYC partner Michelle came into the bar and we had our first chance meeting which led several years later to the founding of Dolfans NYC. When word go out about our club John heard about it and I saw him again for the first time in a couple years and he instantly became one of the most essential members of Dolfans NYC. He is there every week and has done a lot of great stuff for us and now he needs some help.

John’s dog Hank has been really sick and has been in and out of the vet. John approached us about raffling some of his memorabilia off to help pay for some of his dogs treatments and we of course agreed. So on Sunday John is going to be bringing in some of his memorabilia and we are going to be upping the game with some of our own stuff including an autographed game used Brian Hartline glove.

75% of all the money we raise via raffle will go to Johns dog and the other 25% will go to the no kill animal shelter BARC in Brooklyn where Michelle volunteers.

If you can’t make it to Slattery’s on Sunday and still want to help out , please contact us and we can put you directly in touch with John.

Check out Hank below and check out our Instagram now until Sunday for daily updates featuring Dolfan animals!