FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina -- Rodney Raines was concerned when his son, Evan, decided to play football at Seventy-First High School. He was afraid Evan would get hurt. It wasn't like the days of youth football.
"I knew once they got to the varsity level, there was going to be some serious football being played because those boys were trying to earn their place in the NFL," Rodney Raines told several hundred people in the sanctuary of Kingdom Impact Global Ministries on Friday. "I went out to the first game and I kept seeing the number 40. I asked which one was Evan. They said he was the one knocking everyone down."
Raines looked over to the group of Seventy-First varsity football players who sat together in a reserved section in the church. Each one wore a red practice jersey.
"He was so proud. He loved the team. He loved you guys. He loved you," Raines said. "My son went after his dream."
Raines, 16, a junior defensive end at Seventy-First, died Aug. 3 at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center after collapsing on the football practice field. Rodney Raines said hospital officials told him his son died of cardiac arrest.
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