What is the saddest CFB picture you know of?

I couldn’t upload the picture I had in mind, but I guess I may as well tell the story, since the picture means little without the backstory. The picture would be Devard Darling pointing toward the sky (pick any one of his CFB or NFL touchdowns and he did it).
When I went to WSU we were just pulling out of the Steve Burnbaum era and entering the Jason Gesser days (without a doubt, I would call that our ‘glory days’). One of our top receivers in ’02 and ’03, Devard Darling, was a transfer out of Florida State and I knew very little about him, other than he was wildly talented and had his post-touchdown routine of touching his chest and pointing at the sky. It really didn’t mean much to me until I saw a campus-TV spot where they interviewed him. From that I learned where he came from and what he is about.
They asked him about one of his tattoos, it was a cross with the words “the blessed one”. He said he shared that tattoo with his twin brother Devaughn Darling. They were recruited to FSU together and during one of their mat drill practices, while Devard tried to get his brother some water, he collapsed and died. An autopsy report found that Devaughn had a sickle cell disorder of some sort that made it more dangerous for him to engage in extreme physical activity. The university used this to, from what I recall, clear themselves of wrong doing in the death of his brother. But it doesn’t end there, Devard, being his twin, carried the sickle cell gene as well, so FSU declined to clear him to play further, forcing Devard to transfer. I don’t remember exactly why, but he ended up moving about as far from FLA as you can possibly get, and joined Mike Price’s cougars for 3 to play 2. That’s where I saw his talent and later learned his story. I had no idea that this great player, this true WSU cougar, had just transferred from an ACC school where he watched his twin brother die in front of his eyes, got kicked off the team for it and travelled across the country, alone, to play for my cougs. He said there wasn’t a day that goes by he didn’t think of his brother, and every touchdown he acknowledges him by touching his heart and pointing to the sky. I realized what this guy is about and what someone is capable of achieving in the face of tragedy. I loved seeing him play and when I heard the story it made me tear up. I wish I had a picture of his ceremony. I can’t remember any story sadder than that and I was happy to see him to relatively well in the NFL for the Ravens and Chiefs.

/r/CFB Thread