Sean and Kariann Riley received an outpouring of support when their son, a promising young athlete, was killed last year.
They also received something they didn’t expect: a letter from Tom Brady.
“It would have been easy to send a card or an email,” Sean Riley recently told Sports Illustrated after receiving the two-page, handwritten note. “It tells you what kind of human being [Brady] is.”
Calvin Riley, a 20-year-old junior college pitcher, died in August while playing Pokémon Go in a San Francisco park.
Calvin grew up in Lowell, MA, a fan of Boston sports and especially Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback.
In 2011, the Rileys moved to California, where Calvin played baseball for Serra High School in San Mateo — Brady’s alma mater.
After learning of Calvin’s death, Brady mailed a letter to the heartbroken family. For the Rileys, Brady’s note offered comfort in tragedy.
“It celebrated the life of my kid,” Sean Riley said. “Tom talked about the brotherhood of the people at Serra, what a special community it is.”
“That letter, it meant so much.”