Tracy Walker, a safety for the Detroit Lions, is speaking out about the death of his cousin Ahmaud Arbery in multiple interviews with the media.
Walker told ESPN that he has watched the troubling video of Arbery's shooting hundreds of times and said he gets angrier each time he watches it.
"Man, he did not deserve that. And, you know, God has a plan for everybody, man, but, you know, it's tough. It is. That's why I watched it so many times. I couldn't grasp it. It's such a gruesome video, you want to know why," Walker told ESPN.
Walker knew Arbery's death long before the rest of the world came to know about what happened on February 23 in their hometown of Brunswick, Georgia
Lions S Tracy Walker ‘pissed off’ after cousin Ahmaud Arbery’s death: ‘He did not deserve that’ https://t.co/KvOzrddBSj
pic.twitter.com/678MbVJEC5— sears wilson (@searswilson1) May 13, 2020
Walker and Arbery were second cousins and teammates at Brunswick High School who spent hours playing together. Even when their high school team was bad, Arbery would make sure to cheer them up with jokes.
The two lived right across the street from one another and would play video games together. Even when Walker moved on to play football at Louisiana-Lafayette University, he would come back to Brunswick and hang out with Arbery.
The last time Walker saw Arbery was in February, just a few weeks before he was killed. As a safety for the Detroit Lions, he wore the same number Arbery did in high school and came home to watch the Super Bowl with family and friends.
Lions’ Safety Tracy Walker Fondly Remembers Cousin Ahmaud Arbery https://t.co/jmTE5O7IJi
pic.twitter.com/FWlCVb4unw— NFL Draft Diamonds (@DraftDiamonds) May 12, 2020
In February, Arbery bought Walker a drink and reminded him how proud he was that he managed to make it to the NFL.
"It gives me mixed emotions, and the reason why I say that is because it's sad because that's the last memory I have of him, but it's a good memory because he was applauding me and was telling me to keep moving forward and keep doing me, you know what I'm saying. It was great in that sense. He was basically giving me motivation and pushing me forward to continue being the best person I could possibly be," Walker told ESPN.
Justice for Ahmaud Arbery #BlackLivesMatter
pic.twitter.com/TabBfDWpVZ— STARRRRRRR (@STARRRR91181967) May 13, 2020
Hundreds of NFL players have now sent Walker condolences and spoken out about the killing. The NFL's Player's Coalition signed a detailed letter calling for justice last week.
Walker himself has gotten involved in the efforts as well, asking people to participate in the #irunwithmaud event.
"He was a beautiful soul," Walker said. "He wasn't a hateful person. He was not. I can't name one person he had a beef with growing up. Everybody loved Ahmaud because he was just a clown, a funny guy. We want justice for Ahmaud. We want the proper justice," Walker said to ESPN.
