University of Virginia Football
- Kayla Bryson
- Nov 27, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 3, 2022
Virginia Footballs' Sudden End of a Season
How will UVA Football recover as a program following the death of three players?
Following a shooting that took place on November 13th, 2022, three University of Virginia (UVA) football players were tragically killed on a charter bus full of students who were returning to campus after seeing a play at the state capitol. Juniors, Devin Chandler (WR), Lavel Davis Jr. (WR), and D'Sean Perry (LB) were the fatal victims, along with two other students who were injured by the suspect and former UVA football player, Christopher Darnell Jones, Jr. The Monday following the shooting, classes and extracurriculars at UVA were canceled, including a 12 hour long campus-wide shelter-in-place while law enforcement completed a search of the campus.
Jones was arrested roughly 76 miles southeast of the campus the next morning and will be charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun to commit a felony. After attending the event with his victims and upon the bus return back to campus, Jones opened fire on about two dozen others, killing the three players and injuring two others, one of them also being a football player. A witness to the shooting, stated that Jones' pulled out his gun and pushed one of the deceased players with his last words being "You guys are always messing with me," before opening fire. As a former player and student of the university, Jones had previously been on the radar of campus police from violating a concealed weapons rule back in February 2021.
It is unclear as to the full motive or circumstances for the shooting, but all three players were standouts both on the field and in the classroom, according to Head Coach Tony Elliott. Their deaths come as a shock and heartbreak to their team, campus, family, and communities. The team's final two games were set to be played against Coastal Carolina (Nov 19th) and Virginia Tech (Nov 26th), but canceled due to the recent events. With their first game back after the shooting, the UVA Men's Basketball team honored the victims by wearing sweatshirts during warmups with the deceased players names and jersey numbers on their backs and "UVA Strong" on the front.
Players, coaches, and the campus community are now left to heal from this loss with an uncompleted season and return next year, expected to have their minds reset to compete for a championship title. With concerns of safety on campus and stricter gun control policies for the state of Virginia, mental stability will be challenging for the remaining student-athletes.
Recommendations for the team moving forward are to attend counseling sessions both on an individual basis and as an entire program in the upcoming off-season and/or resume while preparing for next season. Coaches need to create a policy of open communication and culture for everyone to heal from the tragedy, especially for those involved. Honoring the deceased players somewhere in the locker room or on the field stands as a reminder for their contribution to the university and football organization.
Funerals for the victims are taking place on Saturday, November 26th for D'Sean in Miami, FL; Sunday, November 27th for Devin in Virginia Beach, VA; and Wednesday, November 30th for Lavel in South Carolina.
Please follow the GoFundMe links for Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D'Sean Perry to help the victims' families during this difficult time.
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