Former Florida OL Trent Brown was in the news in March as he signed a deal with the Oakland Raiders that made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history. It sounded like Brown had many reasons to celebrate (about 66 million reasons), but a new feature from Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News details why coming to Oakland is bittersweet for Brown.

At UF, Brown was close to former Florida LB Neiron Ball. McDonald’s article reveals that Ball was on Brown’s mind when his former NFL team, the New England Patriots, won the Super Bowl this past winter.

Brown and Ball are referred to by nicknames Beezy (Brown) and Weezy (Ball) throughout McDonald’s feature.

Trent Brown stood in the middle of a Super Bowl celebration last month in a state of euphoria and sadness. As confetti fell inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the New England Patriot’s tackle kissed the Lombardi Trophy and said, “Weezy, that was for you.”

Florida fans may remember that word got around last fall that Ball was in a coma. The details of the situation weren’t very well known, but McDonald writes that Ball, a native of Jackson, Georgia, “is in a coma at a long-term care facility in Georgia after an aneurysm burst in his brain Sept. 16.”

McDonald’s feature documents that Brown and Ball were excited to be selected by neighboring teams – San Francisco (Brown) and Oakland (Ball) – in the 2015 NFL Draft.

“We were right across the bay so we probably saw each other once a week,” Brown said. “He’d be sleeping at my house or I’d be sleeping at his. We talked just about every day.”

Brown still keeps in touch with Ball’s brother, NiQuae White, who doesn’t Brown coming to Oakland as a coincidence.

“Wow, look at this — God is sending you to finish what our baby brother started,” White said. “You’re doing what Neiron wanted.

“Trying to help the Raiders be great.”