After tragedies, Pats rookie
Undrafted cornerback D.J. Killings playing with memory of two brothers lost to gun violence
D.J. Killings still has a lot of work to do, his brother Marquis knows, to convince Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff he’s worthy of making the team. The cornerback, an undrafted free agent, has merely participated in rookie camp thus far. But given all his family has endured , th a t small s tep in D.J.’s football journey serves as a huge boost for the Killings family. Because once you know D.J.’s story, which includes losing two brothers to murder while he was in college, you might have a better sense of how meaningful an NFL job would mean to this kid. “It’s the best opportunity of our life, of his life. It’s fulfilled his dream, and to show us, coming from what we came from, the bad things we had happen to our family, finally, there’s some good,” Marquis said of D.J., who signed with the Patriots after not being selected in last month’s NFL draft. “It’s just a blessing. Everyone’s proud of him. It’s God’s will. I feel like I made it. He made it. That’s what having a shot with the Patriots feels like for us.” Killings grew up with six brothers. They were all passionate about playing football. Growing up in South Florida, they spent their days in the sandlots in Miami. They shared a dream of making it to the pros, and D.J. was right on course. The Killings boys were excited when D.J. got to college to play for Central Florida, a Division 1 school. Then fate cruelly intervened.
Older brothers Fred and Reggie were both murdered. They were killed two years apart, viciously gunned down in Miami. Fred died during D.J.’s freshman year in 2013. Then Reggie was shot in front of his home in 2015 during D.J.’s junior year.
His late brothers were “idols” to D.J., his brother Aaron said. Their deaths turned his world upside down and left him devastated. How did he deal with it? “It was hard for him. Football and school got him through it,” Marquis said. “But he knew he couldn’t give up. (Playing football) was (Fred and Reggie’s) dream. He could make them happy by fulfilling his dream, but also fulfilling their dream. It’s just like, they’re all together. Once he’s on the field, it’s like, they’re living through him. So he couldn’t give up.”
‘Football was our passion’
D.J.’s father, Fred Killings, was a running back at Howard University who went on to earn a spot in the school’s Hall of Fame. He was later the boys’ Pop Warner coach. Yet the Patriots rookie still learned