The Washington Commanders will wear helmet decals during Sunday’s game at the Houston Texans (1 p.m. ET on FOX) in honor of the three Virginia football players who were killed in an on-campus shooting last weekend.
The blue and orange decals display the Nos. 1, 15 and 41, which were worn by wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler and defensive end/linebacker D’Sean Perry, who were killed last Sunday when their charter bus returned to campus from a field trip to Washington D.C.
Authorities arrested former walk-on running back Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. and charged him with three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony and two counts of malicious wounding.
The shooting also left running back Mike Hollins in critical condition, while a fifth victim – a female student who is not affiliated with the football team – was reportedly treated and released from the UVA Medical Center earlier this week.
Hollins’ condition has since been upgraded to fair after he underwent multiple surgeries to remove the bullet, which entered through his back, and to repair the damage to his stomach, kidney and small intestines.
Elsewhere, former Cavaliers and current Kansas City Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill announced he will wear hand-painted cleats on Sunday that feature Davis, Chandler and Perry’s names, numbers and jerseys, as well as Virginia’s navy blue and orange color scheme.
The Chiefs travel to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers, with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. It’s unclear if Thornhill will be permitted to wear the cleats during the game due to NFL rules, though.
A similar situation unfolded last year when former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver DeSean Jackson said the NFL told him he couldn’t play in cleats that honored late Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster John Madden.
Photo courtesy of @Commanders on Twitter.
