A somber note to start
sports extra this week.
The Georgia Bulldogs are mourning
the loss of some of their own after
a tragedy struck Athens just after
celebrating another national title win.
Offensive lineman Devin Willock
and Football staff member Chandler
Lacroix were killed early this morning
in a single car crash in Athens,
according to our GA insiders
at ugasports.com.
Fellow offensive lineman Warren
McClendon was also in the vehicle
with another staff member,
Tori Boles.
Both were injured.
The university says they will continue to
monitor their status with medical personnel.
Head coach Kirby Smart releasing
a statement this morning that
says we are all heartbroken and
devastated with the loss of Devon
Willick and Chandler Lacroix.
Devon was an outstanding
young man in every way.
He was always smiling with the great was
a great teammate and a joy to coach.
Chandler was a valuable member of our
football staff and brought an incredible
attitude and energy every single day.
We grieve with their families
for this tragic loss and
we'll support them in every.
The way possible.
Welcome into sports extra
everybody. Obviously not the way that
we wanted to start this morning.
It was very difficult news for everybody.
I have Paul Maharrey from
easports.com and Brandon link from
680 the fan with me right now.
Guys, this was really difficult.
You guys were getting texts early this
morning from the highs of yesterday,
selling, celebrating the
parade to the lowest of lows.
Your initial reaction to this terrible news?
Yeah, I mean it.
It's absolutely terrible.
You know, love and prayers go out to
the family is first and foremost.
But there's not one bad thing
that was said about Devin Willock.
You can ask anybody in the program.
He was a players player, players coach,
you know, everybody loved him and
it's sad to hear about him.
But also Lacroix,
she she was like the backbone to recruiting.
A lot of those guys really liked her a lot.
Yeah, it's crazy because I saw her
on the field after that national
championship game and she was just
smiling and waving and and that's
kind of how I always saw her whenever
I saw her on the field at home team.
Obviously this is terrible news for
the players, staff, their families.
What was your initial reaction
is almost like you wanted to see it
just confirmed three or four times.
You just can't believe it.
Groups, you know, seeing a young man,
you know, kind of grew up in front of
everybody and then we're all in a celebratory
mood after the national championship.
But it, you know, puts things in
perspective of how life, you know,
Trump's everything in these situations.
Always sad that, you know,
when you have young,
young life that's lost early, it's sad.
It hurts for a while.
So you just try to focus on their families.
Sports, sometimes we take away from people
who aren't in the uniforms and on the field.
So, you know, making sure that
everybody gets a proper respect and,
you know, if you can hug.
Somebody hug a family member,
send him a card, do whatever you can.
It just reminds you that,
you know,
life is just precious and it's just so
sad that young people are are now gone.
Yeah, it's such a difficult wake up call
for everyone and we are all praying for
everyone involved in this situation.
Here's just some of the reactions
pouring in on social media on the team.
Fellow lineman Warren McClendon,
who was in that car according to
our insiders at ugasports.com,
tweeted a broken heart and the dove emoji.
Kendall Milton tweeted this photo
saying Long live love you big Dave.
Dev, I love you family.
A real special soul, and I'm blessed
to have you been a part of your story.
Bear Alexander writing this one.
Just don't sit well with the hashtag.
Rest in paradise. My dog Warren Brinson
tweeted a simple I love you bro.
Kerris Jackson sharing a similar statement.
All of these players just pouring
in their respect. You guys.
This is a this is obviously really
difficult to navigate through.
You see these teammates, friends,
brothers of not only him,
but her as well.
How do they navigate this?
I mean what's next for this team?
It's
tough. Right. Because you're gonna
have to have grief counselors.
You're gonna have to really hone in on,
you know, Lebanese guys.
And that's what Kirby, you know,
really talks about a lot, though.
He he talks about the brotherhood
and things like that.
And so you see something like this
happen to a teammate and it just,
you know, you it opens up every
possible emotion for those guys.
And I think being for
each other right now is,
is the biggest thing.
Yeah, I think community and family.
I'm the son of a funeral director,
so I've been to hundreds of
funerals over my lifetime.
And it's the one thing that's
consistent from one side of the state,
one side of the country,
one side of the world or the other.
It's terrible. It's sad.
Nobody wants to be there and
it hurts for a long time.
So rallying together as a dog
family and then, you know,
just away from the sports,
the people who knew these folks
outside of the lines and outside of
what they did for Georgia as well,
making sure that they're just
supported and all you can do is
just hug and say things that are
complimentary of those people to help
their families in this tough time.
Yeah,
there's so many fans that have
obviously supported them as football
players and guys on the field,
but it's so important to support them
now more than ever because they're
clearly dealing with something
that a lot of us just could not.
Imagine just yesterday though,
following the parade.
This is really cool.
The fan encounter for will like it
was one of the last moments that
we saw on social media from him,
Georgia Fan Sam Kramer tweeting out
these pictures of Devin and thanking him
for taking time to talk to his grandson.
This is just such a touching moment.
Also saying that Devin went out of his way
to make him feel special and make his day.
He also let that young boy
or his championship ring.
So cool. And honestly, you know,
you were talking about it, Paul.
This is something you probably
would have expected from Devin.
Ohh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean,
you can talk about Devin all day long.
And everybody will smile when they when
they talk about Devin and it's kind of
weird that I'm sure tons of dogs did
it last night and gave their ring to
people at dinners but we saw this on
Twitter last night so it it just goes
to show you reinforces things but also
warm McClendon who is in the car too.
You know you have to kind of
grieve with him and the survivors.
Guilt is real and I hope that he is
alright too you know it's so it's
not just obviously about Devin but
it's it's about the rest of them
were in the cartoon
very very difficult stuff
guys our thoughts and prayers
are with both of the families
of both Devin and Chandler.
Men, as well as their teammates,
coaches and their friends.
We'll be right back.