Georgia’s Apalachee High School continues to grapple with tragedy. But the school’s football team received a special surprise Friday that many hope will help lift the spirits of the student-athletes.
The Atlanta Falcons hosted the football players nine days after a shooting left two students and two teachers dead. The high school athletes had the opportunity to get an up-close look at the Falcons at the team’s training complex.
The Falcons were continuing preparations for Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Falcons’ practice complex is located in Flowery Branch, Georgia, about 20 miles from the Apalachee High School campus.
“I think it’s incredible that you get a chance to see some young kids going through some tough stuff,” Falcons assistant head coach Jerry Gray said. “I always look and say, ‘Man, what are they going through?’ They’ve got to go back to the school where it happened.”
Among the victims of the Sept. 4 shooting rampage was a teacher who served as an assistant coach for the Apalachee football team.
Nine others were injured. Funerals for two of the victims were held Saturday. A 14-year-old student has been charged with murder, and his father also faces charges for allegedly furnishing his son with a weapon.
During the shooting, some students scrambled for shelter in the high school’s football stadium.
“When you get a little relief and you get a chance to kind of love on them a little bit, I think that’s special for our guys,” Gray said. “We’re NFL guys, but we still understand what caring means.”
Before their season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Falcons coaches and players wore Apalachee T-shirts during pregame warmups. A moment of silence was held before kickoff.
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said the shooting left him heartbroken, and he is keeping the entire community in his prayers.
“I have brothers and sisters, and I have younger siblings … who want to go to school safely. Having that incident happen and having such a tragedy happen like that, it really broke my heart,” Robinson told WSB-TV.
“I even talked to one of the kids (who goes) to that school, and just seeing her being in such a vulnerable space and just crying and still trying to have a smile … it really sucked. I just pray for those kids every single day. The kids, the faculty, everybody there.”
Two-time Pro Bowler Grady Jarrett was born in Georgia and was raised in suburban Atlanta.
“It definitely meant a lot,” the Falcons defensive lineman said. “I played Apalachee when I was in high school.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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