Steven Rivera, team barber for the Miami Dolphins and several Miami Hurricane athletes, squats next to branded tires on his mobile barbershop. (John McCall / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

A discreet-looking, black Mercedes sprinter van is parked outside the mansion of Miami Dolphins’ star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Upon closer inspection, however, it tells its own story.

Imprinted on one of the blacked-out windows is the logo of a menacing hurricane wielding clippers and a pair of scissors. On the back two panes are inscribed the words “Barber of the athletes,” and the tires have the van owners’ social media handle “@canesbarber.”

As impressive as it is on the outside, it only gets better inside the vans’ doors, looking at a fully functional barbershop. Murals of Miami athletes and their memorabilia cover the walls, replicas of the UM turnover chains are strung up, and in the middle of it all is a golden throne of a barber chair.

The vehicle’s owner is Steven Rivera, who has also been the team barber for the Dolphins since 2011. He’s believed to be one of the first, if not the first barber to have a station set up inside an NFL team’s practice facility. In addition to the van, gifted to him by client and Miami backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, he also has his own shop “Sebastian’s,” named after UM’s mascot. After all, it was a couple of Miami Hurricanes football players who really encouraged him to start making money cutting hair.

“It’s a blessing,” Rivera said. “Always when players come in and get drafted or traded to the Dolphins, one of the first things they ask is ‘Who cuts hair well around here?’ or ‘What are the hot spots to eat at?’ It’s one of the first things you ask coming to the city, and I feel like that’s pretty cool, [being that guy].”

Eventually, Hill climbs into the van, sits down on the throne and the haircut begins, sounds of clippers buzzing and light conversation surround him as Rivera, wearing a Mike Pouncey jersey, gives him a shadow fade, making his hairline as crisp as his route running.

The fact that Hill is sitting in his chair is proof that Rivera has become a foundational piece of the South Florida sports community. He has cut the likes of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Heat star Tyler Herro, retired Dolphin Mike Pouncey and many others. Rivera says his services start at about $100 and go up, in part depending on how far he needs to drive.

Rivera has been cutting Hill’s hair for about four years. So, when Hill got traded to the Dolphins on March 23, finding a South Florida barber was one less thing he needed to worry about, since he was already living in Florida.

“It’s very important to me,” Hill said of having a barber he can trust. “Especially because I’m very huge in fashion. So, all of my pieces look good, I also need my hair to look good. I need my hair to match with my pieces; they have to be on the same wavelength.

“So, Steve, like every time I text him, it could be at 3 a.m., he’ll come through. He’ll be like ‘I’m tired but I’m coming,’ so he always comes through for me.”

Steven Rivera, team barber for the Miami Dolphins and several Miami Hurricane athletes, inside of his mobile barbershop on Monday, July 18, 2022. (John McCall / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

A Miami native, Rivera, 35, took his first steps in barbering at a young age. The son of a hairdresser, he would grab shaving razors and try to line himself up. Eventually he began cutting the hair of friends and some family, but nothing professional.

However, after being let go from his job in law enforcement when he was 20, Rivera was at a low point in his life. He took a minimum- wage job at Best Buy. His family was evicted from their apartment in Cutler Ridge.

That’s when two of his friends, former UM football players Javarris James and Lance Leggett, helped him take his first big steps into his professional career.

“They were like ‘Steve, you know how to cut, we see what you can do,’” Rivera recalled. “’Why don’t we just bring you to campus, you can set up in the hallways at Mahoney [Hall],’ ― that’s one of the dorm rooms at the University of Miami. ... All it took was that one moment and me setting up in the middle of the hallway at the dorm rooms, cutting, and it was like every 30 minutes someone wanted a haircut. It was a domino effect, and it just took off from there.”

Ahead of a matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners in 2009, Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris had Rivera cut the words “U Swag” into the side of his head. After UM’s 21-20 win, then-ESPN reporter Erin Andrews asked Harris who did the design, and he shouted out Rivera on national TV.

From there, word of Rivera’s talents spread, and he began cutting some players from the University of Florida national championship team, like Pouncey.

Eventually, Pouncey got drafted by the Dolphins and connected him with the rest of the team, leading him to where he is today.

“I got a call from Kaleb Thornhill, at the time he was with player operations for the Dolphins,” Rivera said. “[He said] ‘You’ve been referred by a lot of our players that you’re the guy to go to when it comes to hair.’ ... Man, I hung that phone up and I was in tears. Like this is the moment I’ve been waiting for.

“And if it wasn’t for Mike Pouncey, Cameron Wake and Lamar Miller, two Hurricanes and one Gator, if it wasn’t for them, I don’t think I’d be inside that facility cutting all those players and coaches.”

Steven Rivera, team barber for the Miami Dolphins and several Miami Hurricanes football players, inside his mobile barbershop. (John McCall / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

As he became a more prominent figure in the athlete barbering scene, Rivera looked for mentorship.

He turned to legendary Miami barber, Hugo “Juice” Tandron, who has been cutting the hair of Marlins’ players since 1993 and became the official team barber in 1998. At the time, Tandron was the first person in the MLB to hold that title.

Tandron was eager to help his young apprentice and had to teach him some tough lessons along the way to his success, including letting him go from his barbershop “Headz Up.”

Now, seeing how far Rivera has come, Tandron can’t help but be proud of seeing everything Rivera has overcome.

“Steve will have a lot of faith that a lot of barbers don’t have throughout the years as he progresses,” Tandron said. “Because he’s just that guy, he knows how to treat people the right way.”

“I see Steve as a young me, and that’s what’s great about it. He isn’t blood, but he’s family. I love him like a little brother. I’m super proud of him because that work ethic that he has, nobody can take away from him.”

More than anyone else, Tandron knows the value of a team barber and the great qualities that Rivera brings to the profession.

“What we do is a lifestyle,” he said. “We’re marriage counselors to our clients, we’re a shoulder to cry on to our clients, psychologists to our clients. We do so much more than just cut hair.”

As Rivera continues cutting Hill’s hair, more of his tattoos become visible. There’s a Heat logo on his bicep, the iconic “U” for the University of Miami on his leg. Sebastian the Ibis also makes an appearance, as does the 305 area code.

All the artwork demonstrates his deep connection to Miami and its sports teams.

And as he continues to grow and dream of future endeavors, owning shops and vans in other cities, his heart will always be with his home and its people.

“All these guys, Hall of Famers, pro Hurricanes — I would put their newspaper clippings in my room like a poster of guys who I looked up to,” Rivera said. “I was a diehard fan, still am. ... I never thought in a million years that I would be cutting the likes of Tyreek Hill, Teddy Bridgewater, Deion Sanders. It’s a humbling experience.”