AUSTIN, Texas — Northwestern State head football coach Brad Laird stood in the pulpit at Olivet Baptist Church and counted to three.
 
Each number stood as a point of emphasis for NSU junior safety Ronnie Caldwell, whose life was celebrated Saturday afternoon in a packed Baptist church just east of the Texas state capitol building.
 
Caldwell, 21, passed away in the early hours of Oct. 12 as a result of an incident at an off-campus apartment complex.
 
"Ronnie came to Northwestern State as a football player, but we quickly learned he was more than just a football player," Laird said. "One, last year, Southland Conference Academic Honor Roll. Southland Conference Academic — I said academic not athletic— Honor Roll. Two, he gave back to the community. He loved people, and he loved kids. He spent all last summer and last spring coaching a youth baseball team in the city of Natchitoches.
 
"Three, Ronnie was hurt this season. He had not played this season. At every game, he was a coach. At practice, he was a coach. At the games, he had a headset. That's what we thought, his teammates thought, Northwestern State University thought of what we called 'Ro.'"
 
"Ro" was one of several names bandied about during the nearly 100-minute service to honor Ronald LaWayne Caldwell Jr.'s life as Laird and family member reminisced on a "life well lived."
 
The big brother persona Caldwell cultivated in the NSU locker room came naturally as did a family-minded attitude.
 
"We knew him as Ronald, Ronnie, Doogie and big brother," said Caldwell's older sister, Rhonda. "He was our brother. He was our protector. He was our best friend.
 
"He was funny. He was a jokester. He was loving. I have two boys. My brother would come here and make it his business to stop by my house and work with my boys. My youngest son, his father's not in his life. Doogie stepped in.''
 
Though Caldwell had not played a down in the 2023 season, he started in 10 games and appeared in all 11 during the 2022 season, finishing seventh on the team with 42 tackles, including 4.5 for loss.
 
Laird referenced Caldwell playing safety and a requirement of that position as having "to be tough." That instinct came naturally to Caldwell as well.
 
Even beloved family members weren't spared from seeing Caldwell's toughness though many times the combatants were left with love and smiles in the following moments.
 
"Even though he was younger than me, he never let me push him around," said Caldwell's older cousin, R'mani Leavell. "Like most cousins, we had our share of squabbles, but since this is Doogie's day, I'll say he won most of them."
 
Caldwell's work ethic pushed him from a walk-on at Tyler Junior College to a spot in Northwestern State's starting lineup – something that did not surprise Caldwell's older brother, Alfred Carter.
 
"That boy was going to work," said Carter, who at 19 years older than Caldwell said he considered his younger brother more like a son. "That's one thing about my brother – he was going to put in the work. He was outside every chance he could get. He had his nets on the ground, all the boxes, whatever he needed to get better. One thing about Doogie, he was going to put in the work."
 
Caldwell's work ethic – and football knowledge – made him a pivotal piece of the NSU football team, even through his injury and left a lasting impact on his family, friends and classmates.
 
Said Laird: "On behalf of Northwestern State University, the Northwestern State football team, coaches, administrators and the city of Natchitoches, to the family we say, 'Thank you for sharing Ronnie with us for the past several years.''