LI's Dylan Laube to play at MetLife Stadium for first time in NFL career when Raiders play Jets

Every year growing up, Dylan Laube rode to MetLife Stadium with his father, Kyle, to see the Giants play.

On Sunday, Nov. 1, his family will return. But they’ll be looking for him on the field.

The Westhampton Beach graduate will make his first NFL appearance at the stadium when the Raiders visit the Jets at 1 p.m. Kyle expects at least 50 supporters, including family, childhood friends and former high school teammates, to attend.

“I haven’t had a chance yet to play in MetLife, which is home,” Dylan Laube told Newsday. “Now I got a chance to be in front of the crowd and in front of my family and friends and people that I grew up with.”

He added: “It’s just definitely going to be one of those dream-come-true events where it’s like, ‘Wow, I made it. This is awesome.’ ”

Laube, 26, is averaging 31.1 yards on 14 kickoff returns through seven games for Las Vegas. This homecoming follows his first NFL touchdown, a 2-yard run against New England on Oct. 11.

“We just called an inside zone play. I got the ball and I was like, there’s no way I’m not going to score,” he said. “It was a great feeling.”

Afterward, he found his family in the stands and gave them a nod. Kyle was sitting near the 20-yard line.

“We were going crazy. People were looking around like, ‘Why are they so happy? They’re getting blown out right now,’ ” Kyle laughed. “To see him get his first NFL touchdown, can’t even describe it. It was amazing.”

Long before his family celebrated an NFL touchdown, Laube was an undersized freshman earning his place at Westhampton Beach High School.

His former coach, Bill Parry, estimated he was 5-7 and 140 pounds when he joined the varsity team.

“You could see he was going to be just better than everybody else,” Parry said. “His work ethic is the best I’ve ever seen as far as a high school kid, and that just really translated right into college and then right into the NFL.”

In 2017, Laube scored a Long Island-record 47 touchdowns, leading Westhampton Beach to a 12-0 record and its first Long Island Class III championship. He shared Newsday’s Carl A. Hansen Award with Lindenhurst’s Jeremy Ruckert, now a Jets tight end. They’ll meet again Sunday.

Despite that success, Laube did not receive many college offers, despite performing well at camps like Connecticut or Boston College. He said Stony Brook did not offer him, either.

“I was fast, I was good. And they didn’t even bat an eye on me,” Laube said.

He chose the University of New Hampshire, earned FCS All-America honors as a junior and senior. He then participated in the Senior Bowl. Las Vegas selected him in the sixth round, 208th overall, in the 2024 NFL Draft.

He faced adversity again early in his professional career. His first regular-season carry ended in a fumble after a hit from the Steelers’ T.J. Watt in a game in 2024.

“Is this going to make or break me?” Laube recalled thinking. “I put my head down and kept on working and gained the trust again.”

“I’ve had plenty of adversity, too, from college, high school, growing up and in the NFL already,” he said. “It’s not going to break me.”

Laube regained his coaches’ trust. Six weeks later against the Broncos, he had a 59-yard kick return, carving out a role on special teams.

“He’s had three different coaching staffs in three years.” Parry said. “So three different systems, and every year he wins over the coaching staff with his team-first attitude and his work ethic. That’s what is helping him succeed.”

Over the summer, Laube returns to Westhampton, holds a free youth camp and maintains relationships with coaches and teachers.

During a summer practice, his former high school offensive coordinator and the school's current head coach, Bryan Schaumloffel, heard a familiar greeting beside him.

“Hey, Coach, how you doing?”

It was Laube. Players looked over, their eyes wide.

“Anytime that he makes an appearance at Westhampton, it’s a special time,” Schaumloffel said. “We’re a small school out on the East End of Long Island, and it’s great to have an NFL player that our younger kids can look up to and rally around and follow.”

Now, members of that community will watch him at MetLife Stadium. Parry will sit beside Laube’s parents, who already have a keepsake from his first touchdown: the football he handed Kyle afterward, now resting on their living room mantel.

“From my family to my cousins to my grandparents, to everyone that wears that name, it’s to make everyone proud every single week,” Laube said. “And I think I’m doing that so far.”