Ezekiel Elliott is doing what he can to help a family from his hometown of St. Louis dealing with a tragic loss.
Elliott will pay for the funeral costs of eighth-grade running back Jaylon McKenzie, who was shot and killed in St. Louis last weekend, according to Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
JAYLON MCKENZIE: I spoke to Jaylons mom, @sukeena5, who says that someone on behalf of @EzekielElliott reached out to pay for her sons funeral costs. Thats so incredible, since Jaylon used to watch Ezekiel to improve his own skills. @ksdknews pic.twitter.com/W0j6Yxatqa
— Justina Coronel (@JustinaCoronel) May 8, 2019
According to Jaylon's mother, Sukeena Gunner, Elliott was an idol to the young football star.
“For him to reach out to me was unbelievable. Jaylon loved Ezekiel Elliott. He talked about him all the time. When Ezekiel was playing, he would sit in front of the TV. His eyes were glued to the tv, watching him,” Gunner said. ”Just for him to reach out to me and help me in this difficult time leaves me speechless.”
Jaylon was a rising star who already had scholarship offers from Missouri and Illinois before he even reached high school and had recently visited USC. He was recently featured in Sports Illustrated as one of the "Six Teens Who Will Rule the Future in Sports" and was once called the "Deion Sanders of the St. Louis scene," according to 247 Sports.
"He is the best quarterback on the team, best wideout on the team, best defensive back and by far the best running back. Therefore to label him as one of them in particular, is doing him a disservice,” his Junior High coach Robert Boyd said in a 2018 interview. “However, primarily he's been a dominating running back, because carrying the ball out the backfield is simply natural to him.”
Jaylon was killed by a stray bullet during a dispute at a party on Saturday night in Venice, Illinois. He was 15 years old.
