On August 26th, 2018, a lone gun-man opened fire in Jacksonville Landing, during a Madden tournament; killing two young men and wounding 11 others, before turning the gun on himself.
The tragedy left the gaming community, and the rest of the world, in shock and many family and friends of the victims, Elijah “Trueboy” Clayton and Taylor “Spotmeplzzz” Robertson, were left to mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Upon hearing about the shootings, fellow gamer and Buccaneers Wide Receiver, Mike Evans, wanted to give back to the community.
In an effort to raise funds for the victims, on Monday, Mike Evans played a game of Madden with Shay Kivlen, known as, “Young Kiv”, in the gaming community. Kivlen, who had been at the Madden event just 20 minutes prior to the shooting, is mourning the death of his two friends, “Trueboy” and “Spotmeplzzz”.
“It’s nice to see that even though there’s this bad seed, there’s all these good people in this world. I just don’t want to feel the pain that I have.” said Kivlen, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.
“It’s such a horrible thing that anyone should have to go through.” he said, and expressed his sadness for the families of Clayton and Robertson and the families of the wounded.
Mike Evans says, “I just like helping people in general that I feel need help.” via Jenna Laine. Also adding, “Throughout my life, there has been a lot of violence, and I guess that does touch home for me a little bit.”
When Evans was 9, his Father, Mickey, was shot and killed by his uncle.
“To be able to be in this position, having a platform like this, I will never take it for granted. I always try to help as much as I can.” Evans said, via, Jenna Laine.
The game with Evans was a healing experience for Kivlen, who has not played since the shooting. “It’s just rough when I get into my own thoughts and stuff like that. It’s just going to take time.” he said.
During the game, he was smiling, laughing and trash talking. Something that he has not done much of, since the tragedy. According to Jenna Laine – ESPN.com.
The game ended with Kivlen’s Patriots beating Evans’ Titans 43-0. But it didn’t stop there, Evans invited Kivlen to attend the Bucs game. He also tweeted out. “It was an honor Bro. And thanks for the beating good wake up call for me gotta step my game up lol. God Bless”
The fundraising event was live-streamed on Tiltify and the funds raised will go to help Clayton’s and Robertson’s families with funeral expenses.
