The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted youth football players at the team's training camp on Thursday following the death of their 12-year-old teammate in a house explosion.
Steelers players signed autographs for the young athletes, took pictures with them, and gave them a front-row seat to life in the NFL.
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Keegan Clontz, 12, was one of six people who died on Aug. 12 in a house explosion in Plum, Pennsylvania's Rustic Ridge neighborhood.
Very classy move by the #Steelers to not only invite the Plum youth football team to training camp Thursday, but also many players took time to sign autographs & talk to the kids. The Plum team lost friend & teammate Keegan Clontz in a house explosion last Saturday. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/3IcEl9rXVw
— Ian Smith (@ismithKDKA) August 18, 2023
Clontz was a member of the Plum Mustangs youth football program and would have been in junior high school, according to a report.
His teammates placed his No. 40 jersey on the goalpost and his initials on the field Wednesday, the report noted.
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Meeting the Steelers allowed the players to "just to get their minds in a different place," Plum Midget Football Association President Drew Harchick said. "And I think it's working right now."
The cause of the blast that killed Clontz and five others is under investigation.