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Virginia football will honor fallen players with 'legacy patches' on jerseys
Virginia running back Perris Jones discusses the Cavaliers' expectations for this coming season.
One way Virginia plans to honor the memory of Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry — the three Cavaliers killed during a shooting on Grounds last November — is with new patches that will be unveiled during Saturday’s season-opening game against Tennessee.
“For me it was about being able to honor them every time we step on the field,” second-year UVa coach Tony Elliott said.
The patches, which Elliott and the program calls “legacy patches,” will be worn on the jerseys of players currently wearing the numbers Davis, Chandler and Perry wore during their years with the team.
Each patch, specific to the late Davis, Chandler and Perry, features the V-sabre logo, the seasons they spent at UVa, their name and their number. So, Davis’ patch has the logo with 2020-2022 underneath followed below by “DAVIS JR.” and “No. 1.”
The legacy patch for Lavel Davis Jr. will be on the No. 1 jersey, which is now being used by senior defensive end Paul Akere, who shared the number with Davis last year, and freshman wide receiver Suderian Harrison, who graduated from Woodland High School — Davis’ alma mater.
His No. 1 is now being used by senior defensive end Paul Akere, who shared the number with Davis last year, and freshman wide receiver Suderian Harrison, who graduated from Woodland High School — Davis’ alma mater.
“After that tragedy took place, [Harrison] was already committed here,” UVa offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said, “and when we got to that moment that was something that he stressed he wanted to do and honor Lavel.”
Davis’ legacy patch will be worn on both Akere’s and Harrison’s jerseys this season.
D’Sean Perry’s legacy patch will be on the No. 41 jersey, which will be worn this season by UVa kicker Will Bettridge, who was Perry’s high school teammate at Gulliver Prep in Miami, Fla.
Like Harrison, UVa kicker Will Bettridge had a tie to Perry prior to arriving in Charlottesville. Bettridge and Perry were teammates at Gulliver Prep in Miami, and Bettridge changed numbers from No. 17 to No. 41 during the offseason to pay tribute to his two-time teammate Perry, whose legacy patch will be on Bettridge’s uniform.
Devin Chandler’s legacy patch will be on the No. 15 jersey, which will be worn by Virginia defensive end Chico Bennett Jr. this season.
Defensive end Chico Bennett Jr. already wore No. 15, so Chandler’s legacy patch will be present on Bennett’s jersey.
“The first thing after everything happened and you start to gain your wits about you again and start thinking about football,” Elliott said, “one thing I wanted from us as a program is to make sure their legacies are visible every time we step on the field. That was the motivation behind the patches that are going to be on 1, 15, and 41.”
Elliott said each year UVa will seek input from the families of Davis, Chandler and Perry about who will wear Nos. 1, 15 and 41.
“It’ll be a selection process to be able to wear those jersey numbers,” Elliott said.
All of the Cavaliers will have helmet decals this season that pay homage to their three late teammates, and this week, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said his Volunteers will wear helmet decals, too, that honor Davis, Chandler and Perry.
There will also be a moment of silence before kickoff at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
“It’s obviously a horrific tragedy that took place there on their campus,” Heupel said. “They’ve had a long time to try and grow through that. We also recognize what happened.”
Greg Madia (434) 978-7451
@GregMadia on Twitter
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UVa Beat Writer
Virginia running back Perris Jones discusses the Cavaliers' expectations for this coming season.
Greg Madia