Remembering Tampa Police Officer Jeffrey Kocab

[Officer] Curtis had pulled over a vehicle and found its male passenger had an outstanding warrant for “minor violations” … Kocab responded to back Curtis up, and “as they put their hands on the suspect, the suspect spun around, pulled a firearm and shot both police officers.”

Kocab and I played football in high school together. We started in JV freshman year, where we served as practice dummies for the varsity players. We were all just skinny little kids, so much smaller than the more experienced players on the team, and were naturally pretty low on the totem pole. It didn’t help that he rode his sister’s pink beach cruiser to practice every day. He got a lot of jabs (and the nickname of Renob) for that.

We’d stand around all summer long, three practices a day, getting the everliving snot kicked out of us. And as the days wore on, our numbers would steadily decrease as the guys who couldn’t take it decided to quit. But little Jeff Kocab, who got hit harder and more frequently than anybody else, never gave in. He’d take the most brutal hit and stand up, ready for the next one. The older guys respected him for that, and soon enough, Kocab transcended the freshman jabs and older-brother-like torment and found himself a welcome part of the team family.

Reading about Jeff’s adult life doesn’t surprise me: Kocab was named employee of the month by his colleagues four times in three years. He also earned Officer of the Year in 2007. His Chief described him as energetic and enthusiastic, which sounds exactly as I remember. His wife is nine-months pregnant with his daughter, Lilly, and the last report I read said that she has gone into labor this morning. A terrible, senseless tragedy. Hug your loved ones and make today count.