Bennett Williams, 5-Year-Old Fan, Donates $1 To Save UAB Football

Five-year-old Ohio resident Bennett Williams attempted to save UAB football with a $1 donation, ESPN reports. As many know, the UAB program was dismantled last month due to budgetary reasons, . It has obviously been a dark time for the school’s fans and players who devoted so much time to that program — it is important to note that in 2014 they finished 6-6, their best record since 2004.

Bennett Williams’ obsession with UAB started innocently when he made his parents print out the logos of all 125 FBS teams. Obviously, being born in Ohio and with a family who bleeds grey and scarlet, Bennett is an Ohio State fan: but the UAB dragon logo seemed to catch the child’s eye. According to his parents, “[he] would follow along at home on fall Saturdays and faithfully watch that ticker on the bottom of the TV screen to look for updates on UAB and catch a glimpse of that cool dragon.”

So once Bennett heard about the closures due to the school’s money problems, he thought donating his hard earned $1, which he garnered from doing chores, would at least help the program stay afloat. So he wrote the program a letter stating, “I love Ohio State, but think you should have football too. Here is one dollar to help!” His father thought it was cute and tweeted the letter, but did not think it would get the response it did.

The assistant AD Reid Adair saw the tweet and immediately contacted the father. And after getting Bennett’s home address, the people at UAB sent him all kinds of goodies: “a game-used football, a signed picture of Blaze the Dragon, a couple of shirts and a variety of Blazers gifts.” And in the responding letter, UAB called Bennett their number one fan in Ohio, which made the child ecstatic. It is wonderful how in such harsh times there could be a silver lining: for all the tears shed about the UAB program, it is nice that this 5-year-old child brightened people’s day with an innocent $1 gesture.

H/T: ESPN