Despite playing football at a low-profile Division II school, Ballentine was drafted by the NFL’s New York Giants on Saturday night, the culmination of years of hard work on and off the field.
“I’ve been waiting on this opportunity for a lifetime really,” he told Giants coach Pat Shurmur after hearing the news.
But in a tragic turn just hours later, Ballentine was injured in an off-campus shooting in Topeka, Kansas, that killed one of his Washburn University teammates.
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Dwane Simmons, a 23-year-old defensive back, was killed in the shooting, said Washburn President Jerry Farley.
Farley said Ballentine, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Giants, is expected to make a full recovery.
“Both Dwane and Corey have been great examples and representatives of the football team and of Washburn University in general,” Farley said in a statement. “This was a terrible way to end a day which should have been a day of celebration and a day to look forward to Dwane’s upcoming year at Washburn and the beginning of Corey’s professional career.”
Source: An NFL rookie was shot just hours after he was drafted by the New York Giants
