West Feliciana High community remembers Jaylon Ferguson

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Baltimore Ravens, Louisiana Tech, and West Feliciana football star Jaylon Ferguson was found unresponsive in his home on Tuesday, June 21.

At his high school alma mater, his football coach Robb Odom remembers Ferguson as a great athlete and a great person.

“Just by his size alone you know he’s like 6′4′ 6′5″ and so he stood out in a crowd. but just his personality, it attracted people to him and the kids here looked up to him and they still look up to him,” Odom said.

Odom said Ferguson will always be a role model to students here.

“Be a good person, like Jay, you know not just a great athlete, but a good person, off the field also, which Jay was you know... it’s sad,” Odom said.

His teachers also remember how he inspired many students at West Feliciana, even those who were not in class with him.

“Our kids love to see former students come back. Former students come back to the games, come to, you know, just be an inspiration to them,” Karolyn Taylor, a teacher at West Feliciana High School, said.

Ferguson’s influence resulted in many students becoming bulldogs after leaving West Feliciana.

“I firmly believe that that’s one of the reasons that a lot of our kids go to tech. A number of our students have received scholarships to go play football at Tech and I think that he is one of the reasons why,” Taylor said.

Ferguson’s death has been felt as far-reaching as the NFL back to his hometown.

“I personally know this morning when I found out it took the breath out of me. You hear about it in other communities, but you don’t ever believe that it will happen to one of your students,” Jessica Walker, a counselor at West Feliciana said.

Last year, Ferguson’s West Feliciana jersey number, 44, was retired.

“It will never be worn again, and he’s so deserving of it, not just for his football accolades, but just the kind of person he was,” Coach Odom said.