FINS HONOR HOMETOWN HERO ANDRA GARVEY

Dolphin defensive coordinator Andra Garvey, center, has his #32 jersey retired during Marathon’s senior night on Oct. 20. BARRY GAUKEL/Keys Weekly

It was 25 years ago when current Marathon defensive coordinator Andra Garvey scored 25 touchdowns and racked up 2,500 yards in his senior season with the Fins. His on-field performance earned him a title no other Keys football player has received: FHSAA 1A Player of the Year. And after this season, no Dolphin will ever wear the number 32 on the gridiron again. At halftime of the Fins’ senior night matchup with Palm Glades, Marathon retired the jersey in Garvey’s honor.  

Garvey started playing varsity football for Marathon when he was in the 8th grade, during future NFL defensive end Tony Bryant’s senior season. Practicing across from a large and exceptionally talented teammate forced Garvey to learn to be evasive and take a big hit at times. During his five-year stint with the Fins, Garvey grew and developed into the sort of running back teams fear and college scouts desire.

During his senior season, there were just 14 players on Marathon’s roster. Coach Bill Sympson had the same thing to say each week on the bus, asking “Is Andra here?” When the players answered affirmatively, he allowed the driver to depart. Over the course of the 1997 season, Garvey’s last with the Fins, he exploded for 2,500 yards, putting fear into secondaries across south Florida and raising the eyebrows of D1 scouts nationwide. Garvey chose Florida A&M as his college destination, and after a successful career with the Rattlers, he returned to Marathon to give back to the community in which he was raised. Garvey coaches football and girls basketball at Marathon and the humble, hard-working coach works with multiple youth teams at the community park. 

Dolphin defensive coordinator Andra Garvey, right, has his #32 jersey retired during Marathon’s senior night on Oct. 20. BARRY GAUKEL/Keys Weekly
Tracy McDonald fled to the Keys from the frozen mountains of Pennsylvania hours after graduating from college and never looked back. She is a second generation coach and educator, and has taught in the public school system for over 25 years. She and her husband met at a beginning teacher meeting in 1997 and have three children born and raised in Monroe County. In her free time, McDonald loves flea markets, historical fiction and long runs in the heat.