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As Chris Peal went through an unfathomable loss, Fran Brown stood by his side.
It was the spring of his sophomore year of high school, and the Charlotte, North Carolina, native saw offers pouring in from across the country. Brown, then the defensive backs coach at Rutgers, wanted Peal to play for him.
On April 9, 2021, Peal’s older brother, AJ, was shot and killed in an apartment complex in East Charlotte.