Virginia Football Will Honor Lavel Davis, Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry With Patches, Decals

Virginia Cavaliers Tony Elliott
Virginia coach Tony Elliott shows an example of a decal. ~ Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations

When Virginia football players Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry were tragically killed in November, other teams representing the University began to wear small black patches with the numbers 1, 15, and 41 on their uniforms. The UVA football team cancelled the remaining two games on its schedule so the program did not have a chance to honor the players on the field of play. The Cavaliers will honor the trio in 2023, though.

While other tributes or ideas are still being discussed, Virginia coach Tony Elliott said Wednesday that those three numbers would have a patch specific to the uniform to honor the individual player. He said the program and team members had not decided how those uniform numbers might be selected by future players or what criteria might be included.

“There’s still a lot of discussion. There’s a group that was assembled to talk about how we’re going to continue to honor the lives of Lavel, Devin, and D’Sean going forward,” Elliott said. “But for me, the patch was about immediately showing our commitment to their legacies going forward. The plan with the patch is whenever the jersey is on the field, those guys are going to be remembered, they’re going to be honored. The individual jersey numbers will don that patch.

“There will be different tributes that we’ll have throughout the year and in the future when other things will be done, but the patch was something immediately I wanted to do to honor the families, to honor the young men,” Elliott continued. “And then also to make sure the players constantly understand not just the legacies of those three, but you never know when your legacy is going to come into play. We all work our whole lives to create a legacy, to build a legacy and we never know when that time’s going to come when that legacy kicks in. So it’s just a subtle reminder to the guys, but then also a visible, public reminder to everybody else of the lives that were taken from us tragically.”

Additionally, the Hoos will have decals on the back of their helmets that honor all three players. It’s designed as a diamond scheme that ties into the end zone paint at Scott Stadium. This year’s departing seniors also received their gift jersey with a patch that has all three numbers on it at the team banquet.

One player that hopes to wear that helmet soon is Louisiana native Mike Hollins. The Virginia running back survived a gun shot wound in the same incident that killed his teammates, but he’s returned to workouts with the Cavaliers this winter. He rushed for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns last season. His resilience through this time has inspired many.

“I’m proud of Mike. Really, really proud of Mike and just the perseverance that he’s showed to get back to where he is, to be working out with the guys,” Elliott said. “Not a ton of restrictions, still a little bit limited on some things, but we’re anticipating that he could be turned loose. It will be a situation where we make sure that we monitor it closely and we do what’s best for Mike in his progression back.”