Just minutes before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell officially opened the 2023 draft by announcing the Carolina Panthers‘ selection of Bryce Young, he took to the stage to dedicate the unofficial first picks of the draft to three Virginia football players who were shot and killed after a class trip last November.
“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,” Goodell announced before presenting family members of each victim with a No. 23 jersey.
Goodell presented Davis’ family with a Vikings jersey, Perry’s with a Dolphins jersey and Chandler with a Jaguars jersey, posing for photos with each.
Virginia head coach Tony Elliott and athletics director Carla Williams were also in attendance for the presentation.
Davis, Perry and Chandler were killed in a shooting on Nov. 23, 2022 in a parking garage following a class trip to Washington DC. The accused shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones, had, for a brief time in 2018, had also practiced with the team.
Two other Virginia students were shot, including Cavaliers running back Mike Hollins.
Hollins recovered from his injuries and participated in spring practice with the team this month, scoring a touchdown in Virginia’s spring game.