To J. J. Chapman.
For an hour now I have stared at the blinking cursor in front of me, not knowing what to say to you. I find it unbelievable that in the day and age where I share my thoughts on facebook, you're not around to read it. I'm going to talk to you the way I talk best. Through an unsolicited letter.
If there's anyone that I know loved life more than I ever will, it's you, buddy. Your unscathed sense of day to day life is something that not only myself admired. I would have never ever thought that anything like this would have ever ever happened to such an incredible spirit like yours. This is all so dream like. We all miss you. All of us. Every single one of us knows what a genuine person that you were. You absolutely made no secret about the fact that you are the one and only Jon Jon, and that you are the only one there ever will be.
Something about you just made me laugh. You are perhaps the most unintentionally funny person that I have ever known. No one but football players really understand what kind of bond that football players hold, like brothers. Brothers in play. And especially not like the big D. It was gonna be me and you in the middle of the line, man. The one and three. We were gonna bust some serious shit up. I am so incredibly sad about the fact that now we never will.
It's times like these that makes the people that now are without you come together. Whether there is or is not a reason that you had to leave us, I don't know. I don't see it. It's been told to me that you left us so we COULD come together.
In such a crazy and hopeless time, you were our laughter, you were our hope. And so maybe you left because you wanted us to hold each other and laugh with each other like you would have wanted.
In fact, maybe some metaphysical deity visited you in the fateful night and struck you a deal. Maybe he said, "JohnJohn, I have a deal for you." He said, "JohnJohn, the deal is that all the people that know and love you will come together and love each other and be happy." And you said, "Oh yeah? Wut do I gotta do?" And he said, "I want you to come with me JohnJohn." And you said, "Oh yeah? Where you goin'?" And he replied, "I'm going to where the sun shines forever and you can do whatever you want whenever you want." He said, "I'm going to where birds sing your favorite songs and the beavers build you mansions and you can eat whatever you'd like, JohnJohn." And this sounded very good to you, J. Real good.
But you digressed. You knew you would miss the people in your life. You knew they would be sad. The entity said, "Good will come to the world if you just come with me JohnJohn. Your friends and coaches and family love you very much, JohnJohn. If you make this sacrifice they will come together and love each other once more." And you knew exactly what we needed JohnJohn. Just like you always did. You knew always how to make us laugh or smile or whatever you think we needed. So you went with him. And now we are coming together JohnJohn, just like you always wanted. We're coming together for you, and being better people for you. I only wish you could have stayed to see it. I know you're out there somewhere.
I'll see you someday, big guy. Enjoy the birds and the sun and the stars. Every play played this year will have you in it. Every down I will feel you next to me. Every game the opposition will quake with fear because Big JohnJ is watching from above.
We didn't just lose a friend.
Or a family member.
Or a player.
We lost our JohnJohn.
We lost our Guardian Angel.
Sleep well JohnJohn.
We will always remember you.
We love you.
-Hunter.
