Just before he left Louisville for the NFL, Bobby Petrino made a promise to Kosair Children's Hospital that he would donate $50,000 every year for five years. It was a promise he kept, even when his personal and professional lives were crumbling.
"When he left the community, of course he could have walked away from that commitment, but he stayed true to it. Every year for five years they honored that commitment and they called and they checked in on that project, and they wanted to know how it was going," Meyer said.
Now Petrino and his family are back just in time--three of the five phases of the $24.5 million renovations are complete. Eventually a Family Resource Center in the NICU will be named in the Petrinos' honor. Petrino says the next step is getting his players involved.
"That's a big part of it; I think Coach Strong has done a really nice job of that. I've been able to see some of the stuff that's been going on," Petrino said.
When that Family Resource Center is completed in the next 18 months, the room will be named after the Petrinos' children: Kelsey, Katie, Bobby and Nick.
"The children's hospital is something that's special to me, so we will probably try to do everything we can to help those people," Petrino said.
And for those of you who prefer moving pictures...
One story like this isn't going to flip every Petrino hater in the country, but it's certainly a bit of news worth highlighting. Here's hoping more of this stuff surfaces over the next few years.