In late April, 15-year-old Jordan Edwards was shot and killed while sitting in a car by a policeman in a Dallas suburb. Like most kids who step onto a football field, he had a dream to play the sport on the biggest stage. Recently, Nick Saban and Alabama sent a package of personalized Bama swag to Edwards’ family.

Very cool of Nick Saban & Alabama to send this to the family of Jordan Edwards. His dream was to play for the Tide. pic.twitter.com/ne3kEz4yBe — Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) June 17, 2017

Edwards played high school football, and it’s through that conduit that his classmates attempted to begin the healing process after his death.

One of the few signs that there had even been a shooting was not a protest banner or a placard but a makeshift memorial of handwritten letters and poems at Jordan’s football locker at Mesquite High School. “He was a phenomenal young man,” Jeff Fleener, the head football coach, said. “He was an example of what we would like all our athletes to be. Great in the classroom, never got into trouble, was at school every single day and had a great attitude.”

There is no more premier program to play college football for than Alabama, and we’ll never know if Edwards could have played his way to Tuscaloosa. What we do know is the effect he had on his teammates and others who came in contact with him.

A signed football jersey will not bring Edwards back, nor will it bring resolution to what is now a murder case. It’s a band-aid for the wounded hearts of Edwards’ family and friends, but it shows that the sport that was an outlet for the young man has not forgotten about him.