‘They were just babies:’ Families, community remember 3 football players killed in Chattooga crash

CHATTOOGA COUNTY, Ga. — Hundreds of people packed a local high school football stadium to honor and remember three players who died in a car accident.

Music filled the stadium at Chattooga High on Monday night.

The words and notes echoed throughout the stadium, as they honored the lives of three football players, killed unexpectedly: No. 16 TyDraevius Dozier, No. 9 Xavier Gray and No. 88 Zantavian Brown. His nickname was Duke.

“They were just babies, man,” said Dylan Chaney.

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Dylan Chaney is the father of Zantavian Brown. He’s trying to deal with the loss of his son.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m feeling right now,” said Chaney.

It was a packed stadium on Monday night. Many are confused as to why three young men died in a car accident.

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Georgia State Patrol says the car was driving down GA Highway 114 when the car approached a curve. The car somehow lost control and then hit a driveway. The car than flipped over before stopping.

“I saw it. I pulled up on it. It had already happened. I pretty much knew they were dead,” said Chaney.

You could feel the raw emotions, throughout the stadium. It didn’t matter whether you were related to three players or just watched them play football.

“It’s a terrible situation, just for everybody, family, just everybody, who knew them,” said John Fain.

John Fain said his daughter was friends with the players.

“My daughter called me, just crying. I really didn’t know what was going on.”

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For many at the school, this is a tough assignment to understand. Chaney is holding on the memories he had with his son.

“I can say if you got kids, you better go home and hold them. That’s all it takes is a few minutes. Just a few minutes.”

If you want to help the families, GoFundMe accounts have been set up for each family. The Gray’s family GoFundMe can be found here. The GoFundMe for Brown and Dozier can be found here.

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