Michigan Wolverines fans have reacted graciously following absolutely terrible news for Purdue football.
Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell’s brother Sean tragically passed away earlier this week. Michigan fans decided to react with graciousness in the wake of the tragic loss in the Boilermakers’ family.
They have already donated money to Purdue’s NIL Collective, Boilermaker Alliance. That group revealed Michigan fans’ gesture on their Twitter account Wednesday.
They wrote, “Today, we are humbled by the goodwill of numerous Michigan fans who donated $16 to Boilermaker Alliance to honor #16 Aidan O’Connell and his brother. Humanity has triumphed over rivalry and our hearts are full of gratitude.”
Today, we are humbled by the goodwill of numerous Michigan fans who donated $16 to Boilermaker Alliance to honor #16 Aidan O’Connell and his brother.
Humanity has triumphed over rivalry and our hearts are full of gratitude.
#GivingTuesday #GoBlue #BoilerUp #ThankYou pic.twitter.com/qhigph6Aew— Boilermaker Alliance (@BoilerAlliance) November 30, 2022
It’s always a pleasure to see philanthropy and humanity prevail. Especially in the midst of tragedy.
This comes ahead of the teams facing off in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday. That’s an unusual matchup: Purdue and Michigan have surprisingly not played each other since 2017, and haven’t faced off in Ann Arbor since 2011. There wasn’t too much contentiousness to speak of. But even if there were, you like to see humanity overcome everything as it has here.
O’Connell’s status for Saturday’s game remained uncertain as Wednesday arrived. Obviously, there are more important things than football. So should O’Connell pass on playing, there wouldn’t be anyone in the world who would blame him.
