What happened after young fan's flag went missing at Meet the Sooners? 'Good people' helped
Callie and Scott Kroth knew their Sooner-loving daughter was struggling.
They had taken 8-year-old Gracie to Meet the Sooners on Saturday afternoon, and she had filled a giant OU flag with autographs from football players and coaches. But somewhere between getting the final signature inside the football stadium and arriving at the car, the flag went missing.
The car ride back to Purcell was awful, and things didn't get much better when they got home.
“Gracie didn’t even want to go swim in the pool,” her mom said, “and that swimming pool’s her life.”
Gracie’s gloom and doom prompted Callie to do something she had never done before ― ask for help on social media.
What came as the result of a simple but heartfelt plea has floored the entire family.
“There’s still some good people out there,” Callie said.
The Kroths have been taking Gracie to Meet the Sooners since she was 3. They have photos and videos of her meeting players and even dancing with a few of them, including Kenneth Murray and CeeDee Lamb.
But the event went on hiatus during the pandemic and wasn’t brought back until this year.
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The Kroths were excited to go back, none more so than Gracie. In previous years, she had taken autograph footballs ― the ones with white panels perfect for signatures ― but when Callie started searching for an OU-branded one, she couldn’t find one.
“Let’s do something different,” Scott suggested. “She’s got her footballs. Let’s try something different.”
A trip to Walmart turned up a crimson flag with a giant cream OU in the middle. The Kroths decided to buy it, but after opening the package, Callie started having doubts.
“Man, this is kind of slippery,” she said of the flag. “You think it’s gonna be a good idea?”
But Saturday when Scott and Gracie got to the stadium for Meet the Sooners, their flag was a hit. Lots of other fans told them what a good idea it was, and the flag easily slid along the table as it moved from player to player and coach to coach for autographs.
Scott even snapped a photo of Gracie with a broad-smiling Brent Venables as the Sooner coach signed the flag.
When the autograph session ended, Scott folded up the flag, put it in his pocket and put Gracie on his shoulders for a piggyback ride to the car. Callie was meeting them across the street from the stadium, and when they walked up, she could see their smiles.
“You have fun?” Callie asked Gracie.
“Yeah!” Gracie told her.
Gracie had a poster in her hands while Scott had a water bottle, so Callie asked about the flag.
“It’s in my pocket,” Scott said.
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He started pulling out all sorts of things out of his pockets that father and daughter had picked up during the day. Trading cards. Koozies. But when he got to his wallet and his keys, he turned to Gracie.
“I think I dropped your flag,” Scott said.
Tears started flowing immediately.
Scott retraced his steps outside the stadium but found nothing. Callie went into the stadium to ask security if anyone had seen a flag on the ground or if one had been turned in. Still nothing.
Less than hour later, Callie decided to post something on Facebook.
"This is a long shot," she wrote, "but if you were at the Meet the Sooners today and picked up an OU flag with players' signatures, it was my daughter's. My husband put it in his pocket to lift her on his shoulders and it fell out of his pocket at some point.
"Have a really sad 8-year-old over here."
Callie is part of a group called The OU Sooner Army, and she hoped someone might be able to help but wasn't convinced much would come of her post. But quickly, people started liking it, replying to it and even sharing it other places, including Twitter.
“It was a whirlwind,” Callie said.
A mom of one of OU’s football players even messaged Callie and provided a contact for Zu Losman, coordinator of OU’s SOUL Mission. Callie reached out, and less than a day later, Losman replied with an offer to help.
“If we’re not able to find it,” she wrote of the flag, “I’m happy to help get autographs on another flag.”
She even offered to let the Kroths attend a practice.
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But then on Monday, Callie got another message. An OU fan said his friends found a flag and left it at a house he owns in Norman, but because he lives in Dallas, he won’t be back for a few weeks to send a photo to confirm the flag belongs to the Kroths.
Callie and Scott have tried not to keep their emotions in check ― it might not be Gracie’s, but how many people could’ve lost a flag at Meet the Sooners? ― and they tried to temper Gracie’s expectations, too.
“Let’s not get our hopes up,” Callie told Gracie, “but I think we may have found your flag.”
The little girl’s face lit up.
The Kroths are holding out hope that the flag is their flag, but regardless of what happens next, they feel like they’ve gotten something already ― they’ve been witness to the kindness of strangers.
Sure, some people were snarky and suggested the flag was probably already hanging on someone else’s wall. Or was likely already being sold on eBay. But most people tried to be helpful and spread the word.
“It’s just mindboggling the amount of generous people out there,” Callie said. “Just humbled to know that there are people out there who go out of their way for a complete stranger and her daughter.”
And rest assured, if they do get Gracie’s flag back, it won’t be going into any more pockets.
“It will be going on her wall,” her mom said.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or on Threads at jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Missing Meet the Sooners flag puts kindness on display
