Purdue's Miracle Upset Over Ohio State Belongs to Student with Terminal Cancer
The Purdue Boilermakers had a little more at stake Saturday against the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes than just knocking off their Big Ten rival.
Purdue won 49-20 and were inspired to capture the upset of the year in college football by one very special fan — Tyler Trent.
Turn on @CollegeGameDay now. @theTylerTrent’s inspirational story about to unfold. pic.twitter.com/fegkHaJFfL
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) October 20, 2018
Trent was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 15 years old. The cancer went into remission in 2015 but returned in 2017. But he decided to enroll at Purdue last fall as a freshman while receiving treatment.
Trent is a huge fan of the Boilermakers’ football team and got a chance to meet head coach Jeff Brohm as well as many of the players.
@JeffBrohm just decided to stop by our camp-out! What a honor to be able to meet him! @BoilerFootball @purdueexponent #BeatMichigan pic.twitter.com/lkT1nBW824
— Tyler Trent Foundation (@theTylerTrent) September 23, 2017
Trent had to withdraw from his beloved Purdue last month when he found out his cancer was terminal.
update: I'm sad to say I will not be making it back to #Purdue. 💔 My health has taken a turn for the worse and the level of care I now need is too great. While I may not know how many days I have left, I'm trusting the one who does! #onlythestrong #boilerforlife #godsgotthis
— Tyler Trent Foundation (@theTylerTrent) September 29, 2018
But that didn’t stop him from rooting for his favorite team. Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium, Trent was in attendance for the game, and he inspired the Boiloermakers’ shocking upset.
Preparing for the game tonight! #BoilerUp #OnlyTheStrong pic.twitter.com/8GFTHKVO3f
— Tyler Trent Foundation (@theTylerTrent) October 20, 2018
He even predicted the upset victory, telling ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi that Purdue would win 24-17. They not only won, they did so in convincing fashion.
oldtakesexposed: Tyler trent/rinaldi ABC College Football: Ohio State at Purdue https://t.co/W7Kyj1nxBy pic.twitter.com/59H0oIqeIK
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) October 21, 2018
Trent was honored in a ceremony before the game. He also received a very special call prior to kickoff from Vice President Mike Pence, according to the Indianapolis Star.
CANCER SUCKS. #Purdue student section replacing the traditional IU sucks chant at kickoff with cancer sucks in honor of @theTylerTrent and others like him battling the disease. Pretty cool. #TylerStrong pic.twitter.com/D4GT5t0xLA
— Taylor Tannebaum (@TaylorTannebaum) October 20, 2018
After the game, Trent was brought into the press room to begin the press conference.
“I’m not entirely sure I’m qualified to make the opening statement but I was just want to say Boiler Up and I’m super happy my prediction came true,” Trent said.
.@theTylerTrent opens the press conference pic.twitter.com/wqyqoyYddY
— mike carmin (@mike_carmin) October 21, 2018
Brohm then talked about what Trent has meant to this team, which is now 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big 10.
“The fact that he was so strong to be here and he’s been so strong the last couple months and the last couple years to be going through what he has — he’s an inspiration to all of us,” Brohm said.
“It really goes to show you what you can do if you put your mind to it and have a great attitude you have a lot of positive energy in you and you want to do something special. I think our players recognize that Tyler has overcome a lot, battled a lot, and he still has that great smile and he still looks tremendous — he’s definitely a Boilermnaker.
“He’s No. 1 in our heart and we appreciate everything he’s done for us and our football team and we’re going to continue to be there for him and we love him very much,” added Brohm.
Proud to be a boilermaker. Love you family 🖤💛🚂
— Tyler Trent Foundation (@theTylerTrent) October 21, 2018
“Proud to be a Boilermaker. Love you family,” Trent wrote on Twitter just hours after the big win.
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