Pflugerville High School senior quarterback Jaylon Reeves is playing through a tragedy most young men don’t have to face.
Reeves lost his mother and father to COVID-19 four days apart in February. His mom, Chrisla, was 48. His father Jason, a former linebacker at the University of Texas, was 47. Due to COVID-19 restrictions at the hospital where both were admitted and eventually died, Jaylon never got a chance to say goodbye to his parents, KXAN reported.
“My dad, me and him did everything together like our whole family was just close,” Jaylon said. “I’ve never lost anybody in my life before, just them being like the first people to go, it just don’t feel real because they were with me every single day ever since my sister went off to college."
Jaylon had to take a break from football but returned for his final high school season with the support of his teammates and coaches.
“I finally found my way back because all my friends played, and I just enjoyed playing it, and my dad [would’ve] wanted me to, so I just had to get back to it,” he said.
His head coach, Charles Taylor, has been impressed with the way Jaylon has handled such a difficult situation.
“I mean, there’s no words for it. I’ve never had a kid in that situation,” Taylor said. “I think football is the one place he can go out and let everything go and just go play.”