Deland McCullough is running back a milestone moment.

Indeed, in 2017, the Las Vegas Raiders running back coach learned his longtime mentor and former college coach Sherman Smith had a special connection: They were biological father and son.

“He opened the door, and he just opened his arms," McCullough, 52, told Today in an Oct. 28 interview of the first time they met up after learning of their relation. "He said, 'My son.'"

Smith—who played for the Seattle Seahawks in the '70s and '80s and worked as the team's running backs coach between 2010 and 2017—and McCullough’s biological mom briefly dated as teens in 1972, with him previously sharing that he wasn’t aware she was pregnant with his son, whom she later gave up for adoption.

But ultimately Smith and McCullough’s paths did c

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