Max and I had planned to attend the BC Lions football game vs. Edmonton a couple of weeks back.

When the world changed for the Reichelt family last weekend I had a sneaking suspicion that Bill would be in the thick of the action Sunday.

There was a beautiful moment of silence for Dylan at the game and it was hard to see the picture of him so big on the center screen because of what it meant.

As guys we generally don’t like to talk about our feelings all that much.  We’d rather be doing stuff, building stuff, competing against something, winning.  (did you know the Taj Mahal was built to honour the then emperor Shah Jahan’s 3rd wife after her death?…yah, I looked it up…)  It is HUGELY important for men to honour those who have passed.

The Lions wearing DR stickers on their helmets was also a class act.

Geroy Simon giving the ball to Bill after scoring an amazing touchdown further shows the class he has and the support Bill and his family has from the team.

From the Sun article:

Reichelt said the victory and now the opportunity for the Lions to win a Grey Cup on home turf can never compensate for his loss.

“But Dylan loved the team to win. He just loved it when they won. He played a part in this, for sure.”

Exactly.  Dylan LOVED to win.  I know the Lions loved to show how much they cared by playing yesterday’s game for Dylan.  A class act all around.

Here’s the full article.

The ‘DR’ stickers on their helmets was an indication that the loss was still raw for some B.C. Lions players on Sunday.

But veteran receiver Geroy Simon felt a need to go one step further.

Following his second-quarter touchdown reception, Simon took the ball and gave it to longtime trainer Bill Reichelt on the sideline. It was Reichelt’s 18-year-old son Dylan, a frequent gameday helper on the sidelines at Lions’ home games, who was killed in a car crash eight days earlier.

“We lost a member of our family,” said Simon after the Lions’ 40-23 CFL West Final win over the Edmonton Eskimos at BC Place. “I don’t know what to say man, it’s tough. It’s just tough losing a family member. We wanted to show [Bill] that we love him.”

Simon said he had initially planned to give the ball after a touchdown catch Sunday to his son, “but I just had to give it to Bill.”

An emotional Reichelt, who was sporting the same ‘DR’ button as other Lions’ staffers, said afterwards in a quiet corner of the locker-room that he wrote Dylan’s name on the ball and put it in a trunk on the sideline for safekeeping.

“Geroy’s a class act,” he said. “[The support from the team] has been unbelievable. They just seem to know when to bring me back up. They just get you back laughing, get your mind off everything. It was awesome.”

Reichelt said the victory and now the opportunity for the Lions to win a Grey Cup on home turf can never compensate for his loss.

“But Dylan loved the team to win. He just loved it when they won. He played a part in this, for sure.”

gkingston@vancouversun.com