Julia Oller | Echo
Flying down the football field on wings that looked suspiciously like the Taylor flag, junior Jonathan Smith forced another cheer from his lungs. Hundreds of fans were hunkered down under raincoats and umbrellas during Taylor's Homecoming football game against No. 8 ranked Robert Morris last October, and they needed motivation to endure the drizzly weather.
Voice hoarse and legs tired from constant running, his T-shirt and shorts sopping, Smith nevertheless prayed for a miracle to prolong the game and give Taylor a chance to defeat the highest-ranked opponent it's faced in 15 years.
He got his wish. Taylor forced a fumble; the game went to overtime, and senior tight end Hans Lundberg caught the winning touchdown.
With a surge of energy, Smith charged onto the field alongside soggy parents, alumni and students.
"I was just going ballistic," Smith said. "It was glorious."
Smith's exuberant showing is nothing new for those who attend football, men's basketball and women's volleyball games. For the past three years, he has been Taylor Athletics' No. 1 fan, raising support and voice alike.
His team spirit was not birthed on Taylor turf, however, but in the Delta Middle School gym in Muncie, Indiana. Smith, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age four, struggled to find a place where he belonged during his middle and early high school years. He found friendship when his sister's basketball team noticed his commitment to attending their games.
"I guess they were just thrilled that anyone from their class was coming, let alone a guy," he said. "The fact is those girls were really great friends to me at a time when I really needed it, so I sought to return the favor."
He decided that he didn't want to limit his athletic support to middle school girls' basketball games. During the final football game of his senior year, in which the Eagles faced No. 1 Mississinewa High School, Smith's classmates spent the first half of the game with their heads buried in their phones, depleting morale. Smith decided to take action.
"I'm in the front row, and I'm just livid," he said. "I get up out of my seat and say, 'Everyone just sit down! We are not going anywhere. Let's show them our Eagle pride.'"
Even though Delta lost the game, Smith said that people still remember the speech. And the memory sparked his decision to bring his one-man cheering section to Taylor.
Taylor Athletic Director Angie Fincannon first noticed Smith sitting quietly on the end of the men's basketball team bench when he was the team manager during his freshman year. But off the bench and in the stands, he found his true calling.
"He was so gregarious and supportive of Taylor athletics that I started thinking, 'I wonder if we can come up with a role for him,'" she said.
Deciding that he would make an excellent mascot, Fincannon ordered a costume during Smith's sophomore year. The problem: Smith's voice was muffled underneath the mascot head. He couldn't pump up the crowd or the players. Fincannon and Smith concluded that he should stick to what he does best-creating an energetic atmosphere at sporting events.
Senior Darayl Jordan, a forward on the men's basketball team, has appreciated Smith's constant source of support over the past three years.
"He's just kind of extra motivation," Jordan said. "We can count on that every time we come out of the locker room he's going to be out there hootin' and hollerin'."
Smith hopes to continue his role as chief cheerer during his senior year at Taylor. His loyalty to the program, energy level at every competition and passion for sports have made him the ideal candidate for the role. Fincannon said that just as the "school cheerer" position began with him, it will end with him as well.
"He's been a tremendously dedicated Taylor fan," she said. "My only con is I wish we had a thousand Jonathans."Photograph by Josh Adams
