A former Indiana football star had fallen on hard times. A chance encounter with a fellow Hoosier gave him a new lease on life.

While walking along a path in Austin, Texas, earlier this year, Jasper Steinmetz spotted a man with something both familiar and out of place. 

“I saw the Indiana University athletic backpack, and since I had just graduated from Indiana, we had that commonality. And I figured, you know, why not talk to him?” Steinmetz told CBS News. 

Steinmetz learned the man was originally from Indiana. He had been homeless for eight months, and his name was Sampson James. Steinmetz later got quite the shock when he Googled James.

He discovered James had been a four-star football recruit out of Avon High School in Avon, Indiana. In 2019, he joined Indiana University’s football team as a freshman running back. He then transferred to Purdue in 2021, before briefly returning to Indiana University as a walk-on in 2023.

“He was an amazing athlete, really a standout star,” Steinmetz said.

His football dream crumbled, though. He suffered a bad knee injury and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He dropped out of Indiana University in 2023 without graduating and eventually lost everything. Except, that is, for his red school backpack, one of his only possessions.

Until along came that fellow Hoosier.

“He told me he went to IU as well. So I was like, wow, that’s amazing, go Hoosiers,” James said of meeting Steinmetz. “He was able to grasp and understand me and come to a point of understanding.”

Because of that Hoosier connection, Steinmetz decided to act. In June, he started an online fundraiser for James that raised $17,000.

That was just the beginning. Next came a home.

“We just prepaid a bunch of rent and got him everything that he needed for the apartment,” Steinmetz said of the new digs with everything James needed to start anew.

So now, when James and Steinmetz walk along that same trail where they first met, the future looks so much brighter.

“Now that all these people donated and you got the apartment, they really want to see you succeed,” Steinmetz told James this week.  

“Oh yeah, and I’m big on not letting them down,” James responded.

It’s a fresh start and a testament to the amazing connections that are possible whenever two people find common ground.