EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- While most of the New York Giants might want to forget Sunday ever happened, Aldrick Rosas will remember it forever. He made his NFL debut in the Giants' 19-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and celebrated the birth of his first child on the same day.
Only it didn’t go exactly as planned. Rosas’ girlfriend, Tiffany Lopez, was scheduled to be induced Monday in California, with the father in attendance. But Lopez went into labor late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.
With Rosas in Dallas preparing for his first career game later that day, he wasn't able to attend. So he did the next-best thing and watched it all on FaceTime.
Rosas began the video-chat session with Lopez around 11 p.m. CT. He was so excited he called long-snapper Zak DeOssie and went to his room, where he sat with his phone plugged into the wall while DeOssie slept.
“Hey, Zak, sorry about this, but can I come over?” Rosas said in describing the unusual late-night conversation.
Rosas’ daughter, Karsyn Isabella Rosas, was born at 4:15 a.m. He made sure to show DeOssie after she arrived.
What Rosas experienced was the 21st-century version of attending childbirth. It wasn't ideal, but it was effective.
"I got to be there," Rosas said Wednesday, several hours after returning from meeting his daughter for the first time. "It was a little grainy, but it was good to kind of be there in support. It was an amazing feeling."
Rosas, 22, knew there was a possibility his daughter could come earlier than Monday. He and his girlfriend decided in advance that he would stay with the team if that happened. No regrets.
"I saw it all," he said.
Without sleep but on an emotional high, Rosas went out and made his only attempt -- a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter -- later that night in his first NFL game. He accounted for the Giants' only points in the contest.
For a young man who attended Southern Oregon and wasn't on a roster last season, it was an unthinkable 24 hours, which ended with him flying to California on a private jet with Giants co-owner Steve Tisch.
"That was pretty special to have my first child and my first NFL game," Rosas said. "Kind of two dreams coming true."
The private jet with the team owner from Texas to Burbank, California, and then to Sacramento wasn't so bad either.
"That was a crazy little experience right there," Rosas said. "That's so amazing that an organization would even do that, coming from the owner and everybody working together to kind of make my dream come true and meeting her. It says a lot about this organization, about family and togetherness. I'm extremely grateful, and what a huge and special opportunity I got to be a part of."
Rosas told coach Ben McAdoo about his plan several weeks back. McAdoo told him not to worry; the team would take care of the travel arrangements and whatever Rosas needed. They formulated a plan for Rosas to fly Sunday night to California, only they didn't know the baby would have already arrived.
Rosas met his daughter Monday morning near Sacramento.
"Amazing. It's a feeling you can't even describe," he said. "I was told that all the time, and you can't really describe that when it happens. What a special moment when I first got to hold her. She's an angel; she doesn't make a sound. No crying. She's good. She's healthy."
Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, will forever be etched in his memory.
"What a day, right? I'm never going to forget it," Rosas said. "I guess it was the best day I can have."