NFL pays tribute to slain Virginia football players with a touching ceremony ahead of the NFL Draft
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Just before the NFL Draft officially kicked off, the National Football League held a special ceremony to honor three slain college athletes.
Last night (April 27), the University of Virginia alums Melissa Stark and D’Brickashaw Ferguson took to the draft stage to pay tribute to a trio of Virginia football players — Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry. Unfortunately, the young Black men died from gunshot wounds on campus in November 2022.
Ferguson spoke briefly about each athlete’s impact on and off the field. The league’s Commissioner Roger Goodell and the players’ families also went onstage. They all stood together as the NFL named Chandler, Davis, and Perry the first picks of the ceremonial draft. “To make it official, with the first picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, we welcome to the NFL family D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis, and Devin Chandler of the University of Virginia,” Ferguson said.
.@UVAFootball players D'Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. are remembered and welcomed into the NFL family at the #NFLDraft. pic.twitter.com/CtxsxxSKbV
— NFL (@NFL) April 27, 2023
Goodell presented the families with jerseys that had the athletes’ names on the back. Perry’s family accepted a Miami Dolphins jersey because he was raised in the city, Fox News shared. Although Davis was from Dorchester, S.C., his relatives received a Baltimore Ravens jersey. Chandler’s loved ones received a Jacksonville Jaguars jersey as he was a North Carolina native.
As previously reported, on the night of Nov. 13, 2022, a bus carrying UVA students returned to campus after a field trip. While inside, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. allegedly opened fire and wounded five, fatally shooting three. The three students killed were UVA football players and former teammates of Jones’.
According to ESPN, a witness informed authorities the shooter targeted specific individuals on the bus. Jones was later arrested and faces multiple counts of second-degree murder, among other charges. His latest court appearance was scheduled for March 30. However, it was postponed and continued to Aug. 31, CBS19 News reported.
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