Georgia Tech Football Coach Brent Key Makes Emotional Plea After Nashville Shooting: 'Do Something'
"If this one thing I say helps somebody else have the guts to stand up and say something, then maybe somebody will have the guts to stand up and do something," Key said during a press conference
Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key was emotional when speaking with the media on Wednesday following Monday's tragic shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. And for Key, the shooting hit close to home as a parent.
"It's the most heartbreaking thing in the world to think about your daughter going to school," Key said during a press conference, according to USA Today. "She's supposed to be safe and protected. It's [expletive], man, it is."
Key's mother was a third-grade teacher, and he said that his 4-year-old daughter, Harper, was performing at a school play when the shooting occurred.
The coach went on to emphasize a need for change.
"I have a chance to stand up here and be in front of a camera, and if one person hears me say that, and agrees and does something to help force a change and something to happen, and a thousand other people say something negative about it, I don't care," he explained. "Because it worked."
Georgia Tech HC Brent Key.. who’s mother was a school teacher… becomes very emotional discussing the tragic shooting event in Nashville this week
“Something has to change… somebody watching… please do something!!!” pic.twitter.com/f46Ha2QdHi— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) March 29, 2023
He continued: "And if this one thing I say helps somebody else have the guts to stand up and say something, then maybe somebody will have the guts to stand up and do something. Then maybe something will happen."
The shooting at The Covenant School killed six people — Hallie Scruggs, 9; Evelyn Dieckhous, 9; William Kinney, 9; Katherine Koonce, 60; Mike Hill, 61; and Cynthia "Cindy" Broyles Peak, 61.
The 28-year-old shooter was killed at the school by police. They were a former student of the school.
Related:How the Uvalde High School Football Team Is Honoring School Shooting Victims with No. 21 Jersey
Key ended his remarks by urging action: "As long as people sit up there and bicker and argue, more and more kids are going to die, 'cause it hasn't changed... So something's gotta change. Everybody please, do something."
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Georgia Tech associate athletic director Mike Flynn, who is in charge of communications and public relations, shared a video of Key's comments on Twitter.
"I've never made a political social media post in my life, and I'm 100% comfortable posting this," he tweeted. "It's not political. I'm posting it because my wife is a teacher. And because we have 2 school-aged kids. And because I'm proud to work with @CoachBrentKey and call him a friend."
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