PEMBROKE PINES — The 5-year-old daughter of Miami Dolphins backup safety Liffort Hobley drowned on Thursday in a backyard pool while under a baby sitter’s care.

Lyrick Hobley was playing in a pool with five other children about 1 p.m. when the children were called in to eat lunch, police said. About 5 to 10 minutes later, the children realized Lyrick had not followed them inside.

The baby sitter, 11, whose name was not released, saw the child at the bottom of the deep end of the pool, dove in and pulled her out, police said. A neighbor performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Pembroke Pines Rescue paramedics arrived.

“It was real upsetting,” said Tim Baum, 37, the neighbor who performed CPR. “When (family and friends) found out the little girl didn’t make it, everyone was crying and weeping.”

Lyrick, who was transported to Humana Hospital Pembroke, died about 2 p.m. She did not know how to swim, police said.

Liffort Hobley, who could not be located for comment, rushed to the house in the 9800 block of Southwest Eighth Street after his coaches told him about the accident. Family, friends and the Dolphins players who drove Hobley to the house stayed at the hospital while doctors worked unsuccessfully to revive the girl.

Dolphins Coach Don Shula waited until football practice was over at 5 p.m. to tell the news to more than 80 Dolphin players and staff.

“Anyone who knows the love they had in that family …,” Shula said, trailing off. “And to have a tragedy like this happen. It’s a tough one.”

Shula said Hobley’s family — Leisha, his wife, Lyrick, and son Liffort Jr., 2 — often came to the practice field at noon so the family could go to lunch together. The couple were married in 1984.

Dolphins players milled around the practice field at St. Thomas University in Miami on Thursday, grieving over Hobley’s loss.

“I couldn’t imagine how tough it would feel,” said quarterback Dan Marino, father of three children. “Sometimes you don’t see your kid around and you can get panicky.”

Police said the drowning occurred at the home of Richard Harrison, a Dade County police officer and friend of the Hobley family. Hobley’s daughter and son and four other children were at the house. An elderly live-in nanny, Pearl Sions, was there, supervising the 11-year-old baby sitter.

Child-proof safety netting surrounded the 15- by 30-foot pool, which was six feet at the deep end. However, it was open because the children were playing in the pool.

After the child was pulled out of the pool, Sions called rescue officers and held the girl while two of the children ran house to house looking for help, Baum said.

Baum, who works a night shift as an American Airlines baggage handler, was sleeping when the children came crying at his door.

“I rushed over there and worked on her,” Baum said. “The little girl was just three days away from starting kindergarten. She had her whole life ahead of her.”

Baum said Hobley called him to thank him for trying to save his daughter.

Hobley, who has played four NFL seasons, was signed by the Dolphins in 1987 as a free agent and started 13 games with the team before becoming a back-up safety.

Staff writer Charles Bricker contributed to this report.