Indiana football super fan Drew Shouse gifted Rose Bowl tickets
Indiana Hoosiers super fan Drew Shouse, 10, was gifted tickets to watch his local football team play Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
- A 10-year-old Indiana football fan with a rare heart defect was surprised with tickets to the Rose Bowl.
- Drew Shouse was connected with the Hoosiers football team through the nonprofit organization Team IMPACT.
- Born with mitral valve regurgitation and aortic stenosis, Shouse has undergone three open-heart surgeries.
INDIANAPOLIS — Drew Shouse was supposed to be at a checkup Wednesday for a rare heart defect. Instead, the Indiana football super fan was on a flight to Los Angeles.
Team IMPACT, a nonprofit organization that connects children facing serious illness with college athletic teams, surprised the 10-year-old with tickets to watch the Hoosiers play Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
Shouse was born with mitral valve regurgitation and aortic stenosis, a rare heart condition affecting about six of every 1,000 babies born, according to University of Michigan Health. Shouse underwent two open-heart surgeries while he spent the first nine months of his life in the intensive care unit at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. It was during those nine months Shouse’s IU fandom began.
Ashleigh Shouse gifted her newborn an IU onesie while he was in the hospital. As Drew grew, so did his love for Hoosiers football. He started collecting footballs stitched with IU logos and often asked his parents, “When are we going to Bloomington?”
Whether it was to a tailgate, or a volleyball or basketball game, an hour-plus drive from their Westport, Indiana, home to Bloomington elicited the same reaction from Drew.
”He always lights up,” said Alex, Drew’s father.
Therefore, when Team IMPACT asked Drew which team he wanted to partner with in August 2023, he immediately chose Hoosier football. Since then, Shouse has become IU’s “kickoff kid.” Drew can’t boast to his schoolmates about being the fastest or most athletic.
But he can boast about being on the sideline at IU Memorial Stadium, walking out with the team during games and scoring a touchdown at IU’s spring game in April 2024.
“It makes him one of the cool kids,” Ashleigh said.
But Drew’s experience with IU is more than a talking point at school.
Linebacker Isaiah Jones was the first player to meet Drew and show him the team’s facility. Wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. took Drew on a shopping spree last season. Elijah Sarratt conversed with the young fan before IU’s game against Old Dominion on Aug. 30. It’s common for players to give Drew a fist bump on the field before games.
Every moment with IU players provides Drew with the strength to fight.
“They’re always really good about telling him how strong he is,” Ashleigh said. “It’s one thing when we tell him that, but when somebody cool as a football player tells you that, you believe that more. Sometimes he says, ‘I can be a kicker and be like them.’ It’s given him that inspiration to look forward and to know he can do stuff like that as well.”
Drew had a third open-heart surgery in October 2017. Currently, Drew’s heart is stable, and he only has to visit a cardiologist once a year. Drew will likely need one more open-heart surgery when he gets older to further correct his aorta, Ashleigh said.
Alex said he looks at life “through a different lens” due to his son’s condition. “You don’t know how long you’ve got,” he said. Drew is preparing for a long life and has an idea of what he wants to do with it.
“Maybe one day I’ll help babies like me,” Shouse once told his mom.
A 10-year-old considering his purpose. More defining than a diagnosis.
“He has a big whole heart,” Ashleigh said.
Drew Shouse is the heart of IU football
Team IMPACT originally got tickets for Drew and his father. Alex admitted Drew was excited, but also sad because his older brother, Jack, wouldn’t be able to attend. Alex and Ashleigh contacted Team IMPACT and, on Tuesday night, walked into Drew’s room to break the news. Team IMPACT bought Jack a ticket, and extended members of the Shouse family raised funds to buy his airfare.
The brothers paused their College Football video game and broke out the Hoosier chant.
”The house was burning down,” Alex said. “They couldn’t stop yelling and jumping.”
Drew told his mom he hopes to interact with Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. Alex said he wasn’t sure if Drew will interact with the team while in California, but said his family is “blessed and grateful” to have this opportunity.
Three bypass surgeries and 10 years later, Alex and Ashleigh’s son is the heart of IU football.
“Drew is an inspiration to all of us on the team,” IU quarterback Tyler Cherry said. “He’s a fighter, and seeing him battle through what he has been through motivates all the players to keep going every day.”
Drew sat at the gate inside Indianapolis International Airport as he waited to board his Wednesday afternoon flight to Los Angeles. With just over 24 hours until his Hoosiers took the field with hopes of making the playoff semifinal, Drew pondered a message to give his favorite team.
”Play good. Play strong. And play hard,” he said in a gentle, child-like tone.
Drew then pauses for three seconds before uttering his following two words:
“Go Hoosiers.”
Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
