NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The family of Tennessee State University football player Chazan Page threw out the first pitch at the Nashville Sounds game tonight.

“I’m pretty sure he’s up there right now smiling at all of us,” Rico Page said of Chazan.

Page, 20, was killed in a hit-and-run accident on the Gallatin Pike in east Nashville in April.

“My first thought was to make sure my family was OK and that his teammates were OK. I went from being a father who had just lost his son to being an advisor to the football players,” Rico said.

Four months after his son’s death, those players, along with family and friends, took to the field at First Horizon Park at a Nashville Sounds game to honor Chazan.

“I know he’s smiling, that’s what he would do: smile,” Rico said.

Chazan’s brother opened the game by throwing out the first pitch and receiving a commemorative jersey with his brother’s name and football number embroidered on it.

“It was incredible, it was incredible to see him throw his first pitch because I know he’s been through a lot and I know his brother would have wanted him to be strong for him,” Rico said.

TSU fans were also sold discounted tickets to the game, with a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales benefiting the Chazan Page Memorial Scholarship Fund.

“It means a lot to my family, my friends and the TSU football players,” Rico said.

As they continue to grieve and begin football season without their dear family and friends, Rico says this group will now have another memory to hold on to.

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