“Love and honor to Miami. That was Tootie,” said Hallberg, Miami’s assistant athletic director for equipment services. “He cherished Miami.”
Tootie was a volunteer equipment manager — and much more — for the RedHawks. He died on Tuesday at the age of 73 following a lengthy illness.
To the players and staff Tootie was a loyal fan and friend, a man with the ability to put people at ease, to make them laugh, to boost morale and soothe troubled minds.
Tootie, a native of Trenton and former football and basketball player at Talawanda High School, drove a truck and joined Miami’s equipment crew in 1996.
Which was lucky for senior nose tackle Jordain Brown.
“It was spring camp of my freshman year,” Brown said. “I thought I was going to come in and make a huge impact on defense and I ended up getting injured. It was a time when I was thinking about leaving (the program).
“Tootie saw me in the training room and said, ‘Man, you’ve got a lot of spunk. I can’t wait to see you play next year.’ He told me to stick with it.”
Brown did not leave the RedHawks; his appearance in Saturday’s 37-23 loss to Bowling Green marked the 34th game of his Miami career.
“With Tootie there was never a bad day,” Hallberg said. “It was almost like he was one of the guys. He’d give advice on life, he’d talk about the paths he’d taken.”
Even after Tootie learned he had cancer, he refused to let it stop him enjoying being a RedHawk.
“One day Tootie came dressed in full uniform during training camp with eye black, shoulder pads, everything,” Hallberg said.
“He came to see the team as they boarded the bus to go to Missouri,” Hallberg said. “He found the physical strength to do that. He was something special.”
Visitation will be held 2 to 5 p.m. today at Brown Dawson Funeral Home in Hamilton. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
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