SAN ANTONIO — Some fifty years ago, Vann McElroy wrecked Don McLaughlin's minibike into a fence. McElroy says he didn't know how to ride the motorized two-wheeler. McLaughlin, now serving his final term as Uvalde's mayor, has presumably extended his forgiveness.
Adventure was typical for the children who grew up around Laurel Street, a short road two blocks from Uvalde's main drag.
"During that time, it was the best place in the world to be a kid," McElroy said.
The 62-year-old paints a paradisiacal picture of his childhood neighborhood, where residents left their doors unlocked and sports kept children entertained.
Matthew McConaughey's father hosted a little league baseball draft in their backyard.
Every Sunday, the neighborhood boys met to play football in a nearby greenspace.
"Everybody was gearing up to be on the Coyotes," McElroy said, making reference to Uvalde High School's football team.
Vann McElroy played at the neighborhood park, then on Friday nights at the Honey Bowl. And practice payed off. "That team is a place where you wanted to be."
The Coyote became a Raider in 1982. He won a Super Bowl in '83, all part of a defense that wasn't known for representing family values.
And yet?
"They just take care of their guys," he said.
It's why so many teammates, some hall-of-famers, reached out to Uvalde 40 years later.
"The idea that parents no longer have a child. I don't even know how to express that," said McElroy.
Soon after the tragedy at Robb Elementary, McElroy called Raiders' owner Mark Davis on his cell.
There was no phone tag and no hesitation.
"They have basically said, 'Uvalde, because one of our guys are there, you all are our family," he said.
The Raiders' donation will replace short chain-link with tall wrought-iron. It'll upgrade UCISD's 750 doors, and put cameras outside school buildings.
"Those three things together, if done right, would make those schools safe," he said.
To do this, McElroy quietly collaborated with superintendent Hal Harrell, one of those neighborhood kids-turned-teammate-for-life.
Other NFL franchises have made donations, but McElroy says there's a reason the Raiders acted early.
"It is a 'just win' philosophy."