Blake Thelen has spent many nights playing football under the Friday Night Lights at Memorial Stadium. growing into a dominant football player and household name in the Great Falls community.
Hailey Sutton / SWX
Thelen ended his career with tremendous stats as the Bison quarterback, and is one of the star players on the basketball team. All his athletic talent has made an impact on the Electric City.
“I went to Howard’s Pizza the other day after the basketball game, and I think I had at least eight, ten people come up to me - ‘Hey good job this weekend, good job!’ and I just think it’s really cool that we have that kind of support system in Great Falls and I don’t think there’s anything better than that,” Thelen said.
But his biggest fan, might actually be the smallest.
Meet Troy Ross, son of Bison offensive line coach Wes Ross, who has build a special bond with the star quarterback. In a video, Troy even said his favorite Bison football player is Blake.
“Troy really gravitated toward Blake. He saw him, and it was his first connection, and it kinda blossomed into a really cool friendship and mentorship for my son since then and these last two years Troy has been inseparable from Blake,” said Wes Ross.
Troy isn’t your typical four year old, however. At just two years old, he was diagnosed with pulmonary capillaritis; an autoimmune disease that makes it very difficult to live a normal childhood.
“His immune system attacks his lungs like a virus, which causes internal bleeding into his lungs,” Ross said.
But that hasn’t stopped the duo from being best friends, who do many activities together. Among Troy’s favorite is playing football with the quarterback.
“I think it’s pretty humbling. It’s such an honor because I mean, he could be looking up to anyone else and the fact that he looks up to me is pretty cool and pretty special,” Thelen said.
“As a coach, you know, it’d be an honor to be a small part of his success would be phenomenal, but what he does for my family, what he does for my son especially, my daughter and wife, it’s just amazing,” said Ross. “I think that this continues to boost Troy’s morale and help him overcome some of his dark times.”
While Troy won’t be able to cheer Blake on at Memorial Stadium anymore, he has plenty of time to watch his favorite Bison shine on the basketball court.
