“Some people don’t believe in young love. He was my best friend. He still is my best friend. I’ve never met anyone that I meshed with so well. It was such a bond,” Dawuane Smoot‘s wife Aumari earlier iterated. It indeed reflected her true feelings and sentiments for her NFL hubby. With the strong backing of his wife, the Bills‘ defensive end has become a formidable player in the league.

After being drafted by the Jaguars as the third-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft, D.J. Smoot signed a one-year contract worth $2,500,000 with the Bills back in May 2024. During his NFL career, he recorded 149 total tackles with 106 solo and 25 sacks during his appearance in 110 games. His impressive stats truly showed his dominance on the field, but his NFL career accomplishments are understated without mentioning his wife.

Who is Aumari Smoot?

Besides being a supportive wife, Aumari Smoot has her own career goals. Impressively, she has a passion for writing. As per her Instagram profile bio, Mrs. Smoot is a professional author. Her poetry book, Wicked Dandelion also caught much appreciation from her fans. Through her book, she describes the transformation from a girl to a woman. She also wrote another book ‘Lost Girl Found Woman.’

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Aumari Smoot also has an impressive academic career. She did her high school education in the Ohio area. It was the place where she first met her future husband and the love between them blossomed.

As mentioned in an ESPN report, published back in October 2022, Aumari revealed her interesting love journey in an Airbnb in Jacksonville. She disclosed that they both started dating when they were just 16 going to different high schools. However, it was tough for them to maintain their long-distance relationship during their higher education. After high school, Aumari attended the University of Akron while Dawuane moved to Illinois to shape his football career. During that time, they decided to split up, but could not stay apart from each other for long. And so, Aumari decided to leave her school to reunite with him. When Smoot was in the final year of college in Illinois, she moved in with her then-boyfriend.

When signed with the Jaguars in 2017, the couple shifted to Jacksonville. And, after dating for years, they exchanged wedding vows in 2019. At the time of the wedding, Aumari was six months pregnant with their first son, Ahmir. They are also parents to their other daughter Ahlani.

And, in 2021, at the time of their second baby’s delivery, their mutual love and support for each other went viral.  During that time, when Dawuane couldn’t get to the hospital quickly enough after Aumari went into labor, he decided to deliver their baby at home. He helped deliver their daughter on the floor of his living room. It was really the greatest moment of their life.

And, the love between the two has only grown with time. Interestingly, they both are equally invested in giving back to the community, running a bilingual early-learning school in Jacksonville.

Dawuane Smoot and his wife give back to society through their social work

Back in 2023, Dawuane Smoot received the Jaguars’ nomination for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. At that time, they both started their charitable education center, The Elsie Academy. The goal of this non-profit school is to incorporate Spanish and sign language into the curriculum.

Aumari reflected her sentiments on their charitable project in News4jax’s report published on  February 14, 2024.  “This is our little mascot, Elsie, so our logo is a little dove, We have one of these in each classroom,” she remarked.

Their non-profit is named after her grandmother, Elsie. During the same interview, Aumari also gave the reason why. “When I found out she was diagnosed with breast cancer I decided to go ahead and name the school after her. Then, once I did research on the name, the name has a very strong meaning and it means ‘pledge to God’. We’re believers and I just felt like it was meant to be,” Smoot’s wife shared.

At that moment, Dawuane also exhibited his elation. “Definitely a dream come true,” he added. “Two years ago when we were visualizing this and trying to come up with a plan, it’s just been a very long road to us getting here,” he further iterated.

Additionally, the NFL DE also expressed his thanks through an IG post on December 3, 2023. Along with sharing a captivating short clip featuring them as the school owners, they wrote a heartfelt note to his post. “Thank you to everyone who came to see the first look of the @theelsieacademy on Tuesday 🙏🏾 My wife and I have been working on this school for 2 years and to see it finally opening up is a dream come true,” he mentioned.

Truly, he is blessed with a beautiful family, sharing similar values in life for growth and peace.