Kenny Funeral Home

Saturday night, and UNLV’s football home opener against 13th-ranked UCLA was heading toward its predictable finish. The Bruins were ahead 37-0 and leads to game stories and columns already were being written in the Sam Boyd Stadium press box as deadline approached.I remember looking up to see No. 44 in all black running down the field with the football.It was Kenny Keys, the Rebels’ lanky free safety from San Diego. He had intercepted a pass from Jerry Neuheisel, Rick’s son, and it appeared he might return it for a touchdown. Alas, the Rebels were whistled for a personal foul on the runback, moving the ball from the UCLA 11-yard line to the 41, and UNLV eventually turned the ball over on downs.It was the first thing I thought of when Kenny Keys died July 26. The Clark County coroner’s office said it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 25.Any mention of what a profound tragedy that is seems redundant. There was a memorial service for Kenny Keys on Tuesday.Because so many had indicated they would attend, it had to be moved from a funeral chapel to a banquet hall. Among the estimated 300 paying respect were UNLV coach Tony Sanchez and what appeared to be the majority of his players.Ties that bind“The thing you come to realize as you coach and go through life is these kids do as much for you as you do for them,” Sanchez said.“That’s the beauty of what we do. We talk about it all the time; there really is a lot of love, a lot of family and lifelong relationships, and you see that reflected here today. What was achieved and not achieved doesn’t make a difference on a day like today. What was achieved was love, camaraderie and brotherhood, and we’ve got to keep that in perspective.”Kenny Keys’ open casket sat among four pedestals of flowers and a potted plant in front of the hall. Red and white roses were on the off-white casket, which was bathed in pink-purple light emanating from ornamental silver t...