The worst moment of Brandon Short’s life will always be with him.
But as Richard Norton once said:
“It means the world,” Short told NSN in an exclusive. “I mean, gun violence is rampant in the country. We want to do everything we can to try to support the people affected by this trauma, whether it be directly, the victims themselves, their loved ones, or indirectly dealing with the fallout. So it means the world to come out and support young people and help them create a better tomorrow.”
Along with Lavar Arrington II, Lavar Sr. was the night’s emcee.
Short, Arrington and Mac Morrison— who was also in attendance— made up one of the strongest corps in the history of Linebacker University.
For Short, who knew Arrington going back to when they were early teenagers growing up in the Pittsburgh Area, his presence made the night all the more meaningful.
“Lavar is like my brother,” Short said. “I mean, he’s more than my brother. He’s one of the brothers that I chose. So know I love him, and it’s great. It’s awesome to have him here.”
The feeling is mutual.
“He’s my brother,” Arrington told NSN. “He’s not just my teammate. That’s like my brother. To have the opportunity, he called me and wanted me to support him. So I’m going to do my best to see what I can do. I’m not an emcee, but let’s see what we can do.”
To have Lavar II there was even better.
Arrington II is a freshman at Penn State and will be following in his dad’s footsteps, playing linebacker and wearing the famous No. 11.
For Short, this is “surreal.”
“I carried him in my arms when he was born. I knew him as a baby,” he said. “I mean, it’s amazing to see him follow in our footsteps.”
Arrington considers himself lucky to have had Short in his kid’s lives, and vice versa with himself and Short’s kids.
“Brandon is a very trustworthy, upright person, and I love him to death,” Arrington said. “And I love him because of all the things that we’ve had to go through and that we’ve encountered and overcome. Just to have this opportunity to have my kids be a part of him and him be a part of my kids lives and me be a part of his kids lives, it’s a beautiful thing.”
In September 2021, Karli Short, just 26 and five months pregnant, was killed in a senseless act of gun violence.
The next summer, Brandon and his wife, Mahreen, created the Karli Short Better Tomorrow Foundation.
Lavar, who knew Karli, described her as “quiet.”
“I didn’t know her to be anything but, when she’s around, very respectful, very quiet, and took care of her siblings, loved her dad, and just was a sweetheart,” he said. “That was a tough time. That was a tough time just the pain that he had to deal with in losing her in that way, and his grandchild on top of all that. Just crazy, crazy craziness connected to it.”
There are times where triumph comes out of tragedy, and that was on display Saturday.
How would Karli Short have felt about the event?
“From what I could gather, she would probably be like ‘ya’ll don’t need to be doing all this.’” Arrington said. “But, knowing how Brandon is and the things that he instilled in her, there’s somebody else that’s going through all this, and this is going to help a lot of people. So I think, in her heart of hearts, she’s somewhere right now, and she’s proud of her dad and obviously Mahreen for doing this.”
Brandon concurred.
“She would be overjoyed that so many people know her, carry on her name, and through here, we’re having a positive affect on people’s lives. She would be thrilled,” he said.
