The DBs Trip**

At the Ravens' training facility, few people spent more time near Tray than Kapron Lewis-Moore. The two were locker neighbors and interacted daily – often seeing each other at their respective bests and worsts.

"There would be a couple times where I had a bad practice, and I would vent to him like, 'Man, I missed a tackle; I messed up on this play,'" Lewis-Moore recalls. "He'd be like, 'Hey, next time do this. You've got tomorrow to get better!'

"He had that positive influence on me."

As the year carried on, the duo started to build a rapport. It was one that eventually led to Lewis-Moore – a defensive lineman – attending an exclusive getaway for Baltimore's defensive backs.

As is customary in the NFL, once the season concludes, members of a team's specific position group will vacation together to unwind. Simply put, it's part of football's rare brotherhood. For this specific "Ravens DBs Trip" – a weekend escape to Las Vegas – the "outsider" Lewis-Moore received an invitation. It came from Tray Walker.

"I'm glad we went on that trip, because we all spent time together and really got to know each other outside of football," states Terrence Brooks, another of Walker's closest friends. "That will be a time I'll always cherish, because that was pretty much the last time I got to hang out with Tray."

As for Walker inviting Lewis-Moore?

"That wasn't anything out of the norm for Tray," Brooks notes. "That's the type of person he was – just very likeable. You could easily be around him, and he'd get along with anybody. 'Kap' came, and he felt right at home with all of us."

There it was … Tray Walker … Letting his light shine.

Oh, That Style

Early in the 2015 season, Walker moseyed into the Ravens' cafeteria. This particular instance stands out because the wide-grinned rookie donned an expressively unique tie-dyed T-shirt featuring a cutout action shot of himself during his playing days at Texas Southern. Undoubtedly, the ensemble drew second (and third) looks from some in the room, but Walker certainly didn't mind.

"The shirt?!" Wilson recalls with a laugh, "Oh, that's Tray – his fun style and personality."

Many Ravens considered Walker among the locker room's most fashionable dressers, someone always aiming for a distinctly choice look that matched his spirited nature.

"If you knew Tray, you knew he was coming here every day with the Jordans, matching hat, matching shirt, matching something," Wilson adds. "That's just Tray. If you didn't know him, you'd think: 'He's too flashy.' But he was going to wear what he wanted to wear and have fun."

"He loved to get dressed up for our meetings, or he would put on his gold chains for the [pre-practice] walk-through," Jimmy Smith chuckles fondly. "That's what we enjoyed laughing about, calling him 'Mr. T.' That's just how he was – fun, stylish."

There it was … Tray Walker … Letting his light shine.

The Meeting Room

The meeting room – it's where players and coaches devote countless hours reviewing video, strategizing and studying. During a normal in-season week, more time is spent here than on the actual practice field. It is a focused learning environment that can be mentally rigorous, impassioned and humbling.

Though just a first-year player, Walker's presence was felt in these meetings, as he displayed his enthusiasm to learn more and to be challenged. "He definitely cared a lot about football," Brooks states.

Even when Walker felt the natural frustration and growing pains to which no young player is immune, he kept pushing.

"As a rookie, you're going through a lot of stuff," Wilson shares. "There are many trials and tribulations. But Tray always kept a smile on his face – always had a positive vibe."

"He was very eager to learn, gain knowledge and soak up what he could to become a professional," Smith adds.

There's another component of the meeting room, one that must not go overlooked. It's also a place of bonding, where during breaks or light-hearted moments, relationships are strengthened through good-natured ribbing and storytelling. For Walker, sometimes that meant simply lightening the mood during a tense situation.

"There are times when a coach gets a little hot, and Tray would say something funny to bring him back down," Brooks recalls. "No one could help but laugh. It grounded us all and reminded us that we're all brothers in this together. That was something that came naturally to Tray. He always had a special fire that everyone could gravitate to; even our coaches could gravitate to it."

"In the room, Tray was everybody's little brother," Smith says. "He was the one who was loved, cracked the jokes and was funny in his own way. He had his personality traits that some people may not have understood, but in our room for sure, everyone understood Tray. He was very much loved in that room."

There it was … Tray Walker … Letting his light shine.

What? How?

Questions – there are many in Baltimore right now.

What is a team to do – especially one as united as the Ravens – when a brother passes away? How does a team respond after such a shocking loss – one infinitely incomparable to any that could occur on a football field?

"I've personally never dealt with this before, never dealt with anybody I'm really close with who has died," Smith shares, noting how, in honor of Tray, he hopes each Ravens defensive back can wear Walker's No. 25 for at least one game in 2016. "I guess it hasn't truly hit me all the way. When I look at a picture of him, it makes me choke up, because I know the kid, and God took him away too fast."

Perhaps there are no answers.

Or, perhaps there are.

"This is new territory for all of us," Brooks concedes. "We're trying to figure out the best way to cope and move on. But, we'll never move on in the sense that we've forgotten Tray. We'll definitely be carrying him with us. I feel like his spirit will always be here, and that's something to work for.

"We will use this as a catalyst to pump us up this year and to remind us just how precious this game, and more importantly, life really is."

Because though he's no longer here in person, just look…