New York Jets Players Lose Close Friends In UVA Shooting
Chris Glaser is a big guy. At 6-4 and 306 pounds, it takes a lot to rattle the rookie offensive lineman, currently on the New York Jets practice squad. Glaser was signed this year by the Jets out of the University of Virginia. He has remained close to his Cavalier teammates and the campus. He still receives the university’s alerts. He knew before most that something terrible was potentially happening on Sunday night. He could have never imagined that three friends would be tragically killed nor could his Jets teammate, 3rd-year cornerback Bryce Hall. Hall played at Virginia with two of the shooting victims.
In a heartfelt interview with ">Tom Rock of newsday.com, Glaser and Hall talked about how incredibly close they were to the incident. “I knew all of them. Including, the shooter,” Glaser said in barely a whisper to the Newsday columnist. Christopher Jones Jr. was arrested for the shooting. Jones was a teammate Glaser's in 2018. He never played in a game for Virginia.
“For people of faith you always wonder what’s the purpose in all of this? Why?” Bryce Hall told newsday.com. “A lot of times we don’t have answers for it and a lot of times we’re left trying to cope the best way we can. It’s never easy. These were great young men with a bright future. You ask how could things like this unfold? It leaves you feeling that you never know what’s going to happen a day from now, a week from now, a year from now.”
One by one, Chris Glaser remembered something special about his friends. He talked about when Lavel Davis Jr. scored a touchdown as a freshman. Glaser said that Davis celebrated by cradling the football and “rocking the baby.” From that point on, “I used to call him ‘Daycare,’” Glaser told Rock. “Whenever he made a great play I’d yell ‘Daycare!" D'Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were the other two players that were killed. Running back Mike Hollins and UVA student Marlee Morgan were shot but have survived. Jones was said to be targeting the football players.
There are more stories about the victims from Glaser and Hall in Tom Rock's story on newsday.com. Unfortunately, these types of sports tragedies are becoming all-too-common. I should re-phrase that by saying, these type of tragedies are becoming all-too-common. I hope for future generations to come, senseless violence isn't something we just get used to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEfOkmC-wYk