Todd Reid has quite the Indiana Hoosiers sports collection. His work office at IU’s Surplus Supply store has been turned into a museum filled with Hoosier memorabilia, each piece with its own story.
"Everybody that comes in here, I tell them about Harold Mauro and he signed my football for me," he said.
Reid is from Goodland in Northwest Indiana which he calls Purdue and Notre Dame country. He got hooked on IU as a kid at the local barber shop.
“You could go in there on a Saturday and watch a football game on his little black and white TV in the early 70s and just pick up the conversation and the rivalry. It was just good humor between him and the farmers.”
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Reid is not only a fan, he works with former IU greats.
“It's come full circle for me," he said. "I pick up my office phone and it's Antwaan Randle El, and he's needing help buying some surplus equipment for his Virginia Tech because he wanted to start a different program.”
Reid was a season ticket holder until a couple of years ago.
“Had to quit going because I got diagnosed with leukemia. So I … so I couldn’t be in the crowd, but I haven’t missed a game on TV,” he said.
Reid is scheduled for surgery Friday – Hoosier game day.
“They're going to go to Notre Dame to play, you know, against teams that I grew up against, the fans from Notre Dame and Purdue on Friday night. I can't tell you what that means. It's heartwarming.”
He’ll be in the ICU for a couple of days and will be hoping for a Hoosier victory.
“I pray I wake up in the ICU and somebody's waving an IU pennant over me and sharing the good news with me.”
He said he’d never thought he’d see Memorial Stadium's stands full, an 11-1 record, or cancer – but it all taught him to have hope and never give up.
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“I have the same passion and same fight in me that that football team does to beat this, and I'm 100% positive that I will.”
