Robert McClain

The silver No. 6 pendant dangles at the end of a chain around Robert McClain's neck. The tattoo honoring his slain college teammate covers the left side of his rib cage.The seventh-round pick is busy these days trying to stick with the Carolina Panthers . But the former Connecticut star still thinks about Jasper Howard every day, about how in a year the fellow cornerback was supposed to be in an NFL training camp, too."He was a playmaker, a playmaker. He was on his way, man," McClain said Friday of the close friend he called Jazz. "He definitely would have had an outstanding year his senior year."Howard's life ended in October. Less than 12 hours after he had starred in a Huskies' victory, he was fatally stabbed during a fight outside a university-sanctioned dance.McClain, who had let Howard borrow his car earlier that week to pick up his girlfriend, had decided not to attend the dance. He instead stayed in a hotel room with his parents, who had watched UConn beat Louisville 38-25 on h...

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