LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The loss of UNLV Defensive Lineman Ryan Keeler continues to impact students, teammates and his loved ones.
In remembrance, a growing vigil has been created on campus to acknowledge both a great player, and an even better person.
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Signed footballs and candles with thoughtful messages surrounded the impromptu memorial made for Ryan Keeler, but the remembrance for the defense lineman does not stop in Las Vegas.
Cristobal Gutierrez is a friend of the Keeler family, and father of Ryan's high school teammate in Chicago. Gutierrez says he saw Ryan mature before his eyes, and that it's unreal to think of him as gone.
"When I got the news that he had passed, it was surreal because he took such good care of himself," Gutierrez said. "He worked so hard to get to where he was at."
Keeler was an Academic All-Mountain West honoree and had just finished his redshirt freshman season last year.
Gutierrez says Ryan's passing is a tragedy, not just because it was sudden, but also because he had so much life ahead of him.
"I was just so happy for him and for his family that he accomplished what he did you know," Gutierrez said. "He was chasing his dream and he was making it happen, and that's where it hurts."
Gutierrez wants those that didn't meet him to know how great of a person he was.
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He says if he were to describe Ryan in one word - it's selfless.
"When his team needed him, he was the left tackle," Gutierrez said. "He was the right tackle. He was the tackle, He was the nose tackle. He was everything that his team needed him to be, and that to me, that kind of selflessness proved to me that he was that special of a player."
Metro says Keeler's unexpected death is still under investigation. The Clark County corner says his cause of death is pending.
