Crimson and Gold Connection; Kendall Gammon

Welcome to Crimson and Gold Connection, keeping you connected with the people and current events at Pittsburgh State University. This week on Crimson and Gold Connection, I'm joined by Kendall Gammon, a man who needs almost no introduction. He's a PSU alumnus, a former professional football player, having played 218 consecutive gains for the Kansas City Chiefs. He's the first pure-long snapper to be selected for the Pro Bowl. Has been a radio host, is an author, and at the moment is also a special assistant to President Steve Scott at Pittsburgh State University. Welcome, Kendall. Rob, good to be here. You've had a long and prestigious career, but that's not really the reason that you're with us today. You're here for a particular purpose, and that's connected with an upcoming anniversary, the anniversary of the Joplin tornado, which would be five years ago on May 22nd. Well, you're right, Rob, and it involves football a little bit, because before every game that I played for the Kansas City Chiefs, I would give out a game ball to a kid in the crowd, whether we were home or away, whether they had a raiders jersey on or not, just trying to make a memory. And you know, fast-forward, of course, to May 22nd, 2011, the Joplin tornado.

One of the 162 people who lost their life in that storm was Will Norton. And the Norton's were neighbors of ours when we lived in Crawl Junction for several years. And when I went down to visit Mark and Trish, Will's mother and father a couple weeks after Will's celebration of life, before I was getting ready to leave, they asked if I would walk up to his room, and there's something they wanted me to see. Naturally, I said, okay, not knowing what to expect, but when I walked in, what I saw in it, what I would call elegant graffiti fashion, very bright colors, was the name Will on one side of his wall, and then on the other side was the number 83, which was my number. And then just to the right of it, that was a shelf with a ball that I gave him the day that he came up to see a game with his family several years before. And I got punched in the gut, I mean, I instantly started sobbing, and never imagined that. That was where an idea was born that came to fruition now, which is called the Will

Wall. And basically, it's an online video social platform where you can go and just take a selfie, thank you of yourself, video wise, and tell somebody thank you for something they've done in your life, be it two days ago or two decades ago, and then while it's uploading, you're going to get prompted for either an email or a text, and you put that in, and of course, it's all kept confidential, and then somebody's going to get a message that says, you know, Kindle Ganon's thank you for the difference you made in his life, for whoever it may be, and that's the whole concept of the willwall.com. Yeah, I was reading on the website itself that the Will Wall is a means of recording something which inspired or changed a life, and that you encouraged that in the website, you present it as an opportunity to actually express that gratitude for having changed a life in whatever format. Yeah, and you know, it was illuminated in a somewhat dark way with, I knew that people enjoyed the game balls that I gave, but I never realized that this one had such effect

that had on will that he incorporated it into his screen name, and he had the number up on the wall. Of course, people, if they go to thewillwall.com, they'll be able to see that wall and see everything, and it just makes you think that, you know, if you never know how long you have, and are there people in your life that made a difference? Everybody has those people, and wouldn't be nice to let them know, and vice versa, now in the fashion of a Facebook or a Twitter, you can follow or be followed, and now you can see what other people are doing or what other people have had done for them, and you can be inspired even more, and that's simply the concept of it. I've noticed in and around Joplin, my in-laws were actually living in Joplin at the time of the tornado, that there is a sense of very much coming together at the time of the fifth anniversary, and that it is bringing people together, and it's something which is significant for the residents, the population of Joplin and the four states.

I would agree, and again, this is when you think about people wanting to thank other people, I can think of no other avenue that might not start better than, you know, all these people here that had their homes destroyed or lost loved ones, and maybe the thank you, they want to say, and vice versa, because I'm sure there's been so many inspiring stories, and again, you wish it's something that didn't happen, but our goal, along with the Nortons, because I, of course, with Mark and Trish, wills, I'm mom and dad, you know, I'm okayed everything with them to make sure it was okay, and they were very happy with it, but it was about trying to make something positive out of something that was so horrific, and that's what we're trying to do, we're trying to extend Will's memory and what he was about, and when you see the story, you'll see that this is a kid who just loved helping people, love it being around people, and just like to lift people up, and that's what the Will Wall is all about.

Now for those of us who are going to be following this on the internet and in social media, there is the website, thewillwall.com, but you also have a Facebook page for the Will Wall, and did you mention that you're also available on Twitter? Yeah, it's Twitter as well, so now you can record your videos on thewillwall.com, but you can tag them to Facebook or Twitter, because obviously they have a much greater following than this is just a way to get that message out, and now maybe more people see this, and they're inspired by it, and hear about it even though they don't know the story of the Will Wall or of Joplin or anything of that nature, so again, it's social media, which was something that encompasses the world and also something that Will was so involved in. Here's the other thing that I think is very interesting. We always talk about the internet, and be careful what you put on there, and employers are going to check that if you're getting hired or you're interviewing for a job, and that's right, and you have to watch it out, but what if, Rob? What if that employer went to the internet to check and see if there's anything bad, and

now all of a sudden saw 20 videos of gratitude that you expressed to somebody. Wouldn't that be something that would really change things out a little bit? And in the grand fashion of social media, as I'm saying that my phone's on and we have something go off, but all the same. This tends to be the way that it happens. Well, Kendall Gammer, thank you very much for joining us this morning. It's a pleasure to meet with you, and we'll encourage everybody to look at thewillwall.com and see the Will Wall on Facebook and on Twitter. Thank you so much, Rob. I appreciate you having me. For KRPS and for Crimson and Gold Connection, my name is Robert Smith. Join us for Crimson and Gold Connection Wednesdays at 8.50 and Fridays at 350.