Tennessee's Todd Kelly Jr., LaTroy Lewis honor Zaevion Dobson with speeches

They immediately wiped their schedules clean. Nothing was going to prevent Todd Kelly Jr. and LaTroy Lewis from honoring Zaevion Dobson.

The University of Tennessee football players were keynote speakers at “Zae Day” on Tuesday afternoon at Lonsdale Elementary School.

The event celebrated the legacy of Dobson, a promising 15-year-old football player at Fulton High School who was shot and killed on Dec. 17, 2015 while shielding two girls from a barrage of gunfire in the Lonsdale community.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world and I am glad I didn’t,” Lewis said. “Zaevion deserves to be honored because he was such a selfless individual. It takes a tremendous amount of courage and fortitude to do what he did. Anyone can sit here and talk about it and think about it, but in a split second to make that decision to look out for the people in his community before himself is the ultimate act of courage.”

After Dobson’s death, Kelly changed his jersey number to 24 to honor Dobson this past season. The Webb School of Knoxville graduate interacted with Dobson and his older brother, Zack. During his speech, Kelly joked about beating Zack for a catch in coverage during a 7-on-7 game. Zack and his mother, Zenobia, laughed at the memory from the front row.

“I am going to wear Zaevion’s number as long as I possibly can. Whatever I can do to help Zaevion’s legacy live on, that is what I am going to do because he loved the game of football just like I do,” said Kelly, a junior safety. “Even though he is not here physically, his number lives on and his overall legacy lives on. I am just trying to speak through wearing his number.”

Lewis has developed a relationship with Lonsdale Elementary - where Dobson attended school from kindergarten through fifth grade – through Project Elevate, a nonprofit the senior defensive lineman established last year to mentor and educate young people in Knoxville.

Lewis organized “Hero Day” last Oct. 22 during UT’s bye week to honor Dobson and help show local youth how to serve their communities.

Lewis has been making weekly trips to Lonsdale to mentor a group of schoolchildren, a role Kelly will now fill while Lewis trains for UT’s Pro Day and potential NFL career.

“When I got to school, I looked up to the older guys and LaTroy was one of the older guys I looked up to. His nickname for me is Lil’ Bro and my nickname of him is Big Bro and when I say that I mean whenever he tells me something I do it,” Kelly said. “I feel like he’s doing a great job with his whole Project Elevate program and mentoring younger kids and he passed that on to me. He wanted me to be an ambassador and whatever I can do to help him and this community that is what I am going to do.”

During their speeches, Lewis and Kelly invoked Nelson Mandela and Maya Angelou. Lewis compared Dobson to the Torchbearer on UT’s campus, saying “Sometimes for us to shine our light we have to stand in the dark so that others may walk in the light. I believe that is what Zaevion embodied and it parallels the torchbearer.”

Kelly told the schoolchildren to work hard, set goals, give back to the community and respect others. He asked them to never forget Dobson’s shining example.

“The courageous act that he did for those two girls is amazing. It really can’t be put into words,” Kelly said. “Just being from Knoxville and my mom being from this area, I wanted to do anything I could for these kids. That is why I am here one morning a week, speaking to them about what they can do for the community. That is what it’s all about.”



Members of the Fulton football team and coaching staff attended the event. The football players and cheerleaders arrived at Lonsdale before school started on Tuesday morning to greet the schoolchildren.

Police said Dobson and his friends had no gang ties and were apparently targeted by mistake in an attempted retaliation.

The two men charged in Dobson’s death – Richard Gregory Williams, 22 and Christopher Drone Bassett, 21 – are due in court for a status hearing on Feb. 24.

A Knox County grand jury returned a 27-count indictment against Williams and Bassett last August, including charges of first-degree murder, eight counts of attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

Although “hero” is thrown around a lot in sports after big plays that decides games, Lewis believes Dobson is the true definition of the word.

“I don’t think there is a comparison on any level compared to what Zaevion did,” Lewis said. “That is the ultimate act of being a hero, beyond Superman, Batman, an NFL player, an NBA player - Zaevion showed us what a true hero really is.”