D’Sean Perry: On A Personal Note
When south Florida attorney Michael Haggard texted this morning, it was a given that it was about his son, who is a backup quarterback at Tulane University or to rub in Florida State University’s success this season.
When my eyes focused on the message, I began to tear up and my head started to shake from side-to-side. How could this be. Someone I have known and followed for the past six years. The young man who I watched and promoted when nobody had ever heard of him was gone.
The young man who sent constant messages last January and February when I had a life-threatening bout with double pneumonia and Covid to make sure I was going to make it,
At the age of 22 – when his entire life was fully ahead of him, University of Virginia student/athlete D’Sean Perry was shot and killed as he and fellow students returned from a Sunday field trip to Washington D.C.
Perry was a linebacker for the Cavaliers, but the road to arrive at this level was filled with ups and downs and his father, Sean, made sure I was a part of every positive and negative.
Every week since he arrived on campus, the Perry family made sure that we were a part of the entire process. From the growing pains of the early years to the position change and his opportunity to start – the family made sure that Miami Gulliver Prep head coach Earl Sims (a University of Virginia product) and myself were part of every Facebook message that provided updates.
This was someone who everyone loved and respected as a football player, but also as a student. He mentored athletes and members of the student body as well.
In the course of my 52 years covering high school football, there are thousands of players you come in contact with, but very few do you hold close to your heart. D’Sean was one of the good guys who was always there to thank and show his appreciation.
He will be missed and so will those messages that he and his father would send year-round.