ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – 23-year-old Cason Grant, who was best known as a former football captain for Wylie High School, was killed in a rollover crash in Converse County, Wyoming over the weekend. As his family prepares to lay the young man to rest, the Wylie community has displayed an incredible show of support towards the Grant family.

“We had no idea that Cason had touched the number of people that he did. It’s been a real blessing, and I think we find comfort in that,” said Sid Grant, Cason’s father.

Grant told KTAB/KRBC his son was always the social type; making friends wherever he went and consistently concerned with the wellbeing of others.

“He was very competitive, but when the game was over, his first question was, ‘How did Abilene High and Cooper do?’ Because,” Grant explained of his son’s character, “he wanted to know how his friends did.”

After attending Wylie High, Cason went on to enroll at Mississippi State University and later transferred to Oklahoma University (OU), where he continued his football career.

“Cason’s one of those individuals that was sometimes bigger than life,” recalled Wylie Head Football Coach and Grant family friend, Clay Martin.

Coach Martin said he knew Cason as an exceptional athlete and longtime friend to his youngest son.

“A kid that was, you know, someone you could always count on,” Coach Martin fondly looked back. “Just someone that full-heartedly pursued his dreams.”

At OU, Cason suffered a second torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and considered leaving the school to pursue his lifelong dream of cattle ranching.

“He wasn’t really interested in school, but it was just a necessary evil,” Grant explained. “He’s always wanted to be a cowboy.”

With his parents encouragement, Cason graduated with his Bachelor’s degree from OU. Shortly after, he found work on a cattle ranch in Wyoming.

“Oh he loved it. I mean he was living his dream… The lord had His hand [on] Him, being there. Sometimes we don’t understand that, but now that this has happened we know the Lord had him there for a reason,” Grant calculated. “He got the opportunity to do what he wanted to do for those last few months.”

Images shared with KTAB/KRBC by Grant Family

Just a few months after accepting that position, Grant was killed in a rollover wreck. It was the same day his degree arrived in the mail.

“So he didn’t get to see it, but someone reminded me yesterday; he really didn’t care. And that was just Cason,” said Grant.

In those months on the cattle ranch, Grant said those likely meant more to his son than any degree ever could.

“You know, selfishly, we want to see him,” Grant reasoned. “But the Lord has a plan for all of us, and His plan was for Cason to come join him on that big ranch in heaven… And that’s quite a promotion.”

Funeral services are being prepared by the Hamil Family funeral home. The service will be held Thursday, October 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the Beltway Park Church South Campus, with visitation to follow. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Gathering, Carson’s church in Wyoming.