The space Nolan Wells left behind as a new football season begins without him

Ocean Springs, Mississippi (CNN) — Nolan Wells should have joined his fellow Southwest Mississippi Bears on the football field Thursday night in the season’s home opener.

Instead, in the kind of humidity that dampens shirts well before warm-ups even begin, his parents sat in the stands at Ocean Springs High School, as two of his younger brothers opened their season on the same field where Nolan played just a year ago.

“Today we should’ve been talking to Nolan about how excited he was about game day! He would’ve (been) hyping everyone up,” his mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, wrote on Facebook a few hours before kickoff.

Nearly two months after his body was found following a July 4 boating trip with a group of friends to Mississippi’s Horn Island, loved ones are still grappling with the unanswered questions about his cause and manner of death, which an independent pathologist deemed “undetermined” pending further investigation. Results from the state’s autopsy investigation have not been publicly released.

Investigators continue to review evidence before it is presented to a grand jury, who will ultimately decide if any crimes took place, Jackson County district attorney Angel Myers McIlrath has said.

With a new school year underway, fall festivals approaching and the kickoff of football season, Nolan’s absence was evident in different ways, but the contrast was striking: His college town openly honored Nolan. Meanwhile, his hometown appeared eager to move on.

In Ocean Springs, where Nolan lived and first made a name for himself, the focus remained on the high school’s football game unfolding in front of them – no moment of silence, visible memorials, signs, ribbons or public tributes.

Normalcy and uncertainty coexist amid unanswered questions

On the surface in Ocean Springs, grief appeared to be more private than public in the predominately White, relatively affluent Gulf Coast neighborhoods.

During a midweek dinner service, bars and restaurants in the historic downtown district were filled with residents whose golf carts lined curbside parking spots, as flyers about upcoming happenings in the community peppered businesses along the strip of a lively stretch of galleries, boutiques and an eclectic mix of eateries.

Despite the lack of outward signs in Ocean Springs, Nolan’s death has come to mean different things to different people and a lack of answers from authorities has left residents drawing their own conclusions about the circumstances of his death.

The unwelcome racial overtones of the Black teen’s death while accompanied mostly by White friends hearkened back to Mississippi’s painful past and struck a nerve that garnered national interest in the case.

The involvement of civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nolan’s family and the presence of The Rev. Al Sharpton at speaking engagements have only amplified that speculation and fueled threats not just toward some of Nolan’s White friends who were with him the day he disappeared but toward his family who have been outspoken about demanding answers.

Two football fields, one family’s grief

The town where Nolan was set to start his sophomore year of football at the collegiate level openly honored #16 – not only the player they lost but the unfinished future he never had an opportunity to pursue.

Over two hours away through miles of dense forest, before any stadium lights flicked on in Summit at Southwest Mississippi Community College, Nolan’s coaches and teammates found several ways to remember their promising recruit Thursday.

Every football player added a white “NW” decal — Nolan’s initials — on their navy blue and white helmets in honor of the teammate they loved and appreciated for his positive attitude both on and off the field.

Nolan’s memory wasn’t just confined to the helmets or the locker room. As the young men hit the field, white towels embroidered with “LLNW,” short for Long Live Nolan Wells, and “#16” hung at the waist of some players. Arm sleeves carrying the same message served as a soft but poignant reminder that one of their own should have been taking on their opponent with them.

“He’s supposed to be right here,” Earvin Moore, Southwest Mississippi’s general manager and wide receiver coach, told CNN Thursday.

Nolan’s loss has been especially painful to Moore because the 18-year-old had been doing everything right, the coach said. He believed Nolan was on track to play at the next level and routinely watched him look for ways to improve, putting in the painstaking work to get there.

The cherished wide receiver’s assuring smile is what Moore said he’ll miss the most.

“Forget about football,” Moore said. “If you needed something … whether you were a player or a coach, teammate, he listened, he gave you his input, and then at the end of every conversation, he’s gonna find a way to make you laugh.”

“It’s just who Nolan was.”

Inside the locker room Thursday, players laced up cleats, pulled their jerseys over their shoulder pads and completed pregame rituals, but reminders of their teammate remained.

Moore has not reassigned Nolan’s cubby. Instead, his navy jersey, meticulously embroidered with a white number 16 hangs unfettered with his unworn Bears helmet resting on a shelf above.

Football moves to the forefront as grief lingers

Back in Ocean Springs, the only visible tribute Thursday night for Nolan came from his little brother, Elmore Wonsley Jr., also a wide receiver, who had Nolan’s name painted in white letters on his eye black. Nolan’s other younger brother, Ethan Wonsley, a senior who plays defensive tackle and nose guard at Ocean Springs High School, also played in Thursday night’s game.

The high school opened the game with a collective prayer and the national anthem.

Nolan’s parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, were in the stands at Ocean Springs Thursday to support their two younger sons, but there was no public mention or acknowledgment of the two-time All-Region wide receiver during his high school career.

The night moved forward with football at the forefront.

When asked about the lack of any tributes or the evening’s plans to honor Nolan, the Ocean Springs School District declined to comment.

Both Southwest Mississippi Community College and Ocean Springs High School lost their respective season-opening games. For the high school, its loss was the worst in 25 years, the Sun Herald reported.

Nolan’s mother posted about her gratitude to Southwest Mississippi after the games on Facebook, saying the “family appreciates you more than you’ll ever know” for the way the team and coaches honored her “sonshine.”

The-CNN-Wire
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