RIGHT NOW - THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA - IS IN MOURNING. JUST A FEW HOURS AFTER THE GEORGIA BULLDOGS CELEBRATED THEIR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WIN WITH A PARADE IN ATHENS - OFFENSIVE LINEMAN DEVIN WILLOCK AND RECRUITING STAFFER CHANDLER LECROY - WERE KILLED IN A CAR CRASH. AS BULLDOG NATION GRIEVES, ONE FAN AND HIS GRANDSON ARE SHARING THE INTERACTION THEY HAD WITH WILLOCK - HOURS BEFORE THE WRECK. AS OUR ANDY COLE REPORTS -- IT'S AN ENCOUNTER THAT HAS CHANGED LIVES. AFTER ATTENDING THE CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION FOR GEORGIA'S BACK- TO-BACK NATIONAL TITLES SATURDAY IN ATHENS... <> "CAMDYN STARTED TO GET A LITTLE HANGRY, AND WE WERE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO KINDA STOP." SAM KRAMER AND HIS SEVEN-YEAR- OLD GRANDSON CAMDYN STOPPED TO EAT BEFORE HEADING HOME TO CARTERSVILLE. <> "ACTUALLY HAD JUST SAT DOWN TO GET READY TO ORDER AND WE NOTICED KIND OF A COMMOTION, BUT WE NOTICED SOME FOLKS THAT HAD STARTED TO GATHER ON THE LEFT SIDE WHERE WE WERE SITTING.//AS SOON AS I TURNED MY HEAD AND LOOKED, I SAW WHO IT WAS." IT WAS REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE DEVIN WILLOCK. AND AS A LIFELONG GEORGIA FAN... KRAMER KNEW HE HAD TO SAY HI. <> "I JUST KINDA GAVE HIM KIND OF A FIST BUMP. I SAID "HEY DEVIN, CONGRATS WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON." HE TURNED AND SAW CAMDYN SITTING THERE AND CAMDYN WAS KINDA WIDE-EYE LOOKING AT HIM." AFTER CHATTING FOR A BIT... KRAMER SAID IT WAS HARD FOR CAMDYN NOT TO NOTICE HIS CHAMPIONSHIP RING. <> I REMEMBER I JUST TOLD CAMDYN 'HEY, YOU'VE GOT ONE. BUT HE'S GOT THE REAL DEAL,' AND SO DEVIN, WITHOUT EVEN STOPPING OR FLINCHING, TOOK THE RING OFF AND GAVE IT TO CAMDYN AND SAID, 'I'D LOVE TO SEE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE IN THE RING.' KRAMER SAID THE MINUTES-LONG MEETING FELT LIKE HOURS TO CAMDYN. <> "WHAT REALLY STRUCK ME WAS JUST THE WAY THAT HE EMBRACED BEING WITH CAMDYN." HE SNAPPED A FEW PICS OF THE ENCOUNTER AND POSTED THEM TO TWITTER. WILLOCK SAW IT AND RETWEETED IT WITH THREE RED HEARTS - HIS FINAL TWEET. THEN, HOURS LATER, TRAGEDY. ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY POLICE SAY IT WAS JUST BEFORE 3 A.M. SUNDAY THAT THE SUV HE WAS A PASSENGER IN SLAMMED INTO TWO POWER POLES AND TREES BEFORE CRASHING INTO AN APARTMENT. THAT ACCIDENT KILLED WILLOCK AND THE DRIVER -- FOOTBALL STAFFER CHANDLER LECROY. THE ATHENS BANNER- HERALD REPORTS STAR OFFENSIVE TACKLE WARREN MCCLENDON WAS ALSO IN THE CAR. HE HAS MINOR INJURIES WHILE ANOTHER PASSENGER IS IN SERIOUS CONDITION. <> REPORTER: "IF YOU HAD TO TALK TO DEVIN'S FAMILY RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?" KRAMER: "MY HEART IS BROKEN FOR THEM.//I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU RAISED AN OUTSTANDING YOUNG MAN AND HE WILL BE MISSED." A CHANCE ENCOUNTER THAT WON'T SOON BE FORGOTTEN. ANDY COLE. WJCL 22 NEW
Man and 7-year-old grandson meet Georgia football player hours before he was killed in crash
Sam Kramer and his grandson met Willock at an Athens restaurant after the championship parade
Updated: 1:38 AM EST Jan 16, 2023
As The University of Georgia community mourns the loss of a player and staffer killed in an early morning car crash, one fan and his grandson are grateful to have had one of the last interactions with redshirt sophomore Devin Willock. After attending the championship celebration for Georgia's back-to-back national titles Saturday in Athens, Sam Kramer and his 7-year-old grandson Camdyn stopped to eat before heading home to Cartersville."Actually, had just sat down to get ready to order and we noticed kind of a commotion, but we noticed some folks that had started to gather on the left side where we were sitting. As soon as I turned my head and looked, I saw who it was," Kramer told sister station WJCL.It was Willock. And as a lifelong Georgia fan, Kramer knew he had to say hi."I just kinda gave him kind of a fist bump. I said, 'Hey Devin, congrats with everything that's going on.' He turned and saw Camdyn sitting there, and Camdyn was kinda wide-eyed looking at him."After chatting for a bit, Kramer said it was hard for Camdyn not to notice his championship ring. "I remember I just told Camdyn, 'Hey, you've got one. But he's got the real deal.' And so Devin, without even stopping or flinching, took the ring off and gave it to Camdyn and said, 'I'd love to see what you look like in the ring,'" Kramer said.He snapped a few pics of the encounter and posted them to Twitter. Willock saw it and retweeted it with three red hearts – his final tweet. Then, hours later, tragedy struck.Athens-Clarke County Police said it was just before 3 a.m. Sunday that the SUV he was a passenger in slammed into two power poles and trees before crashing into an apartment. That accident killed Willock and the driver, football staffer Chandler LeCroy. The Athens Banner-Herald reports star offensive tackle Warren McClendon was also in the car. He has minor injuries while another passenger is in serious condition. "My heart is broken for them," Kramer said of Willock's family. "I just want you to know that you raised an outstanding young man and he will be missed."
As The University of Georgia community mourns the loss of a player and staffer killed in an early morning car crash, one fan and his grandson are grateful to have had one of the last interactions with redshirt sophomore Devin Willock.
After attending the championship celebration for Georgia's back-to-back national titles Saturday in Athens, Sam Kramer and his 7-year-old grandson Camdyn stopped to eat before heading home to Cartersville.
"Actually, had just sat down to get ready to order and we noticed kind of a commotion, but we noticed some folks that had started to gather on the left side where we were sitting. As soon as I turned my head and looked, I saw who it was," Kramer told sister station WJCL.
It was Willock. And as a lifelong Georgia fan, Kramer knew he had to say hi.
"I just kinda gave him kind of a fist bump. I said, 'Hey Devin, congrats with everything that's going on.' He turned and saw Camdyn sitting there, and Camdyn was kinda wide-eyed looking at him."
After chatting for a bit, Kramer said it was hard for Camdyn not to notice his championship ring.
"I remember I just told Camdyn, 'Hey, you've got one. But he's got the real deal.' And so Devin, without even stopping or flinching, took the ring off and gave it to Camdyn and said, 'I'd love to see what you look like in the ring,'" Kramer said.
He snapped a few pics of the encounter and posted them to Twitter. Willock saw it and retweeted it with three red hearts – his final tweet. Then, hours later, tragedy struck.
Athens-Clarke County Police said it was just before 3 a.m. Sunday that the SUV he was a passenger in slammed into two power poles and trees before crashing into an apartment.
That accident killed Willock and the driver, football staffer Chandler LeCroy. The Athens Banner-Herald reports star offensive tackle Warren McClendon was also in the car. He has minor injuries while another passenger is in serious condition.
"My heart is broken for them," Kramer said of Willock's family. "I just want you to know that you raised an outstanding young man and he will be missed."
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