PISCATAWAY, N.J. — During Saturday’s annual ‘Spring Game,’ Rutgers football honored the memory of Ryan Keeler. The former defensive lineman, who spent one season with the program, passed away in February.
Keeler was a member of the 2021 recruiting class and a former three-star recruit out of Illinois. He transferred to UNLV where he played last season and registered eight tackles.
He passed away in Las Vegas in February.
For the spring game, the football team wore decals on the back of their helmets emblazoned with Keeler’s initials. It was a tribute to a player who touched many lives around Rutgers and the football program.
Among those touched by Keeler was head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag], who spoke on Saturday at the end of his press conference as to the legacy of Keeler.
“Ryan was a guy that touched a lot of people in the short time he was here. a lot of our players were very, very close to him. He had that kind of personality,” Schiano said after the game.
“And, you know, we had probably, I don’t know, nine or 10 of our players went out to his service in Chicago. So that kind of shows you that although he was only here a short time – a year – he had a big impact on a lot of people in our program, including me. He’s a very positive, positive guy, and a hard, hard worker,
“You know – tragic? Absolutely. But that was our little way to sort of show and have a remembrance of him here at his first school that came to – Rutgers.”
Speaking after the game, quarterback Evan Simon said the emotions of the day and remembering Keeler’s life was not lost on him. He remembers Keeler as someone who could change a bad day simply by the will of his personality and his heart for others.
Forever in our hearts ❤️ #LLRK47 pic.twitter.com/ayk7rZNhaY
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) April 28, 2023
[lawrence-related id=26385]
“It’s tough. He was a special kid. He just always walked around with a smile on his face,” Simon said.
“And you know if your day was bad, you saw him and had a conversation – it turned out to be a great day.”
[lawrence-related id=26376,25926]
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
[mm-video type=video id=01gz7ptz3rva6ferntta playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gz7ptz3rva6ferntta/01gz7ptz3rva6ferntta-fd17f32806499936e59493015577b581.jpg]