Wide receiver Allen Hurns wore No. 88 with the Jaguars, but he’s a teammate, for now at least, of Dez Bryant after signing with the Cowboys and that means he needs new digits for his uniform.
Hurns opted for No. 17 and the Miami native explained on 105.3 The Fan that his choice was inspired by the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.
“The Douglas shooting that was in Florida, 17 people lost their lives, so I chose that number,” Hurns said, via the Dallas Morning News.
Hurns isn’t the only member of the NFL to keep those shooting victims in mind this week. After a request from former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, Patriots owner Robert Kraft provided the team’s plane to take students from the school, including some who were wounded in the attack, and families of the victims to Washington for last weekend’s “March for Our Lives.”
“I just thought this is a way for our organization to reach out to these people who were hurting bad,” Kraft said, via the Boston Herald. “I can’t think of a worse unnatural thing than losing a child. Think of little kids going to school and seeing bullets, in America, going over their head. Something’s not right, and we’ve got to fix it. Congratulations to these kids for trying to get the attention of this country focused on it. I hope our friends in Washington are smart enough to figure out a way to listen to one another and do something that can be positive.”
SI.com reports that Kraft wrote that “it is an honor for us to now partner with you as you push for progress” in a letter left for each person traveling on the plane.