Former NFL Player And Baltimore Native Keion Carpenter Remembered

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- On Sunday, loved ones of former NFL player, Kieon Carpenter, attended a public viewing to honor a man that gave so much to so many.

He was loved for the game he played on the football field, but the true honor for the former NFL and Woodlawn high football player Keion Carpenter, was how he gave back to the place where his life and the beginnings of his career started.

"He was a giving person. As you can see, he had the Compton house, he gave back to the kids. He has four kids, [but] you would think all the kids he helped were his kids. He was just fantastic," says family friend Juanita Thomas.

Baltimore native, Keion Carpenter played five years in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons.

December 29, while vacationing with his family in Florida, he died after falling and hitting his head. The cause of death is reported as blunt force trauma to the head.

"I've lost people in my life and I just felt like being there for people is the best thing you can do," says Elijah Antonine, family friend.

Many people, friends, family and just those who knew of Keion wanted to pay their respects to one of the sons of Baltimore at a public viewing.

A man who gave back to a community that helped him make it to the big leagues of a game he loved so much.

"And he came back to give what we gave to him. He came back to give it to the kids, which means so much to everybody," says Thomas.

"It's alright to give, but he came back to give back to where he got his beginnings from," she say.

Kieon's funeral is scheduled for Monday, at 11 a.m. at New Psalmist Baptist Church.

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