Corey Ballentine
AP Photo/Adam Hunger

New York Giants rookie cornerback Corey Ballentine testifies against his best friend Dwane Simmons’ alleged killer.

The New York Giants selected Corey Ballentine in the sixth round (No. 180 overall) of April’s draft out of Washburn University. That same evening, Ballentine’s night turned for the worse. The defensive back was involved in a shooting incident that wounded him and left his best friend, Dwane Simmons, dead.

On Monday, one day removed from the Giants’ opening-game loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Ballentine traveled to Topeka, KA to testify against Simmons’ alleged killer.

During the testimony, Ballentine recalled that very night, saying a car approached the group of football players, asked if any of them smoke, and additionally asked them what their names were.

One of the players responded “Don’t worry about all that,” according to Ballentine, per Phil Anderson of The Topeka-Capital Journal.

Anderson writes, “At that point, Ballentine said, the car pulled forward about 20 feet then came to an abrupt stop just east of a stop sign at S.W. 13th and Washburn.

“Ballentine said he was keeping an eye on the car and soon began hearing gunshots.

“‘Initially, it was slow,’ he said of the gunfire. ‘Then it started speeding up after I started running.’

“Ballentine said he and the rest of the players ran in different directions.”

Ballentine still has the bullet in the right cheek of his buttocks. He’s been playing with it as he’s climbed the depth chart for the Giants all summer.

He’ll return this week to prepare for the Giants’ Week 2 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

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Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.