Luvu explained that his brother took his own life, a shattering bit of news he was still processing, and which made his joining a new team more difficult to enjoy.

“Yeah, it’s hard talking about it now,” he said. “Just knowing he’s not going to be here is hard. At the end of the day, I want to make him proud.”

The family was together last weekend for the funeral in Seattle. The togetherness was necessary, the balm they required. The absence of one, however, will take much longer to recover from, and it made the contract offer from the Panthers hard to concentrate on.

That’s what he was doing Tuesday, moving quickly through his paperwork, taking a physical, signing his contract, and getting on another cross-country flight. Luvu had to get back to his parents, as they try to figure out each