Brenden Rice making a catchBrenden Rice (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Social media has been sending love to new NFL receiver Brenden Rice following heartbreaking personal news.

This weekend should have been one of the best weekends of the former USC wideout’s life. Instead, he spent it mourning the death of his best friend.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport revealed that the player flew to Dallas on Saturday morning to pay his final respects to Keith Miller III and deliver the eulogy at his funeral. The NFL insider added that the player would answer the draft call whenever it came.

“Rice boarded a flight this morning to Dallas to be a pallbearer and give the obituary speech at his best friend Keith Miller III’s funeral,” Rapoport tweeted. “Miller passed away two weeks ago today. He will be answering the call whenever it comes from the funeral.“

“A heavy draft day for Jerry Rice’s son,” Rap’s NFL Media colleague Tom Pelissero wrote.

“Damn— such an honorable kid. What a rollercoaster of emotion Rice will be experiencing,” a USC fan commented. “Fight On Brenden.“

“I’m certain Keith Miller would be the happiest for Brenden Rice for when he gets drafted. Watching your best friend get drafted to the NFL has got to be one of the best moments of both of your guys’ friendship. Rest in Peace, Keith,” said another user.

You can see some more reactions here:

 

The Los Angeles Chargers Drafted Brenden Rice In The Seventh Round

The Los Angeles Chargers took Brenden Rice off the board in the seventh round at No. 225 overall.

The Chargers were in need of receiving talent after trading Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears and will hope Rice can live up to the family name. The former Trojans star is the son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, who is widely regarded as the best wide receiver in NFL history and holds the league’s all-time records for catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.

Brenden was a Second-Team All-Pac-12 selection last season after leading his team with 12 receiving TDs. He recorded 84 catches for 1,402 yards and 16 scores for the Trojans after beginning his college career at Colorado.