The Kansas City Chiefs organization did a nice thing for a family in mourning following mandatory minicamp practice today.
Washburn teammates Dwane Simmons and Corey Ballentine were celebrating Ballentine being select in the 2018 NFL draft when something terrible happened. Both Simons and Ballentine were involved in a shooting in Topeka, Kansas, where they played football for the Washburn Ichabods. Ballentine, a draft pick of the New York Giants, suffered minor injuries as a result of the shooting. The injuries suffered by Ballentine’s teammate Simmons were fatal.
General manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid presented members of the Simmons family with an honorary jersey following mandatory minicamp practice. The jersey had Dwane’s name on it and the No. 21.
Simmons won’t ever have the opportunity to join an NFL franchise like his teammate Ballentine. That opportunity was taken from him. But the Chiefs are doing their part to recognize Simmons and honor his memory by presenting his family with this jersey. As a Lee’s Summit, Missouri native, Simmons likely grew up as a fan of the Chiefs.
Motive for the shooting is still unclear, and no arrests have been made. Investigators provided an update in May saying that they had many leads and were confident that they’d successfully close the investigation into the shooting death of Simmons soon.
