In the aftermath of Oregon’s embarrassing on-field loss to Boise State and LeGarrette Blount‘s even-more-embarrassing postgame meltdown, fans of the program were questioning just what direction their football team was headed.
One fan who was in attendance at the Boise debacle, however, took the discontent a step further and did want most fans only talk about on message boards and sports talk shows. He asked for his money back.
Speaking to the Every Day Should Be Saturday blog, Oregon grad Tony Seminary confirmed that he had emailed an invoice to head coach Chip Kelly requesting a refund for the expenses incurred on the trip. And, lo and behold, guess what? Kelly sent Seminary a check a few days later for $439.
Needless to say, Seminary, who said he sent the invoice in jest, was stunned that he got a response from the coach. And a check.
“The invoice was sent in jest. I run a business and I invoice customers, and I have an invoice at my disposal. I just took all the company information and made it out to Tony Seminary, Incorporated. It was definitely sent in jest. Sometimes you send an email, and you just feel better after you sent it? That’s kind of how it felt.
“When Chip replied and said ‘What is your address?'-that was all he said-I replied with my address, and a few days later I had a check in the mail.
“As a sales guy, it’s really hard to shut me up. When I received that check, I was literally speechless.”
Seminary sent the check back to Kelly without cashing it -- he did make some copies -- along with a thank you note and a business card.
That one simple gesture on the part of Kelly seems to have won the coach a fan for life.
“I think of Coach Kelly as a totally different person now, I have a different bond with him now thanks to what happened. Let’s just say he lost every game as an Oregon coach. You would never hear me calling for his head. It just wouldn’t happen. The guy showed an incredible amount of class.”
“He could lose every game 50-0 and he’d still be my coach, our coach, through thick and thin.”
On the flip side, though, Al Groh had better hope Virginia fans don’t catch wind of this. I can smell the carpal tunnel forming from here...