Inspired by his own struggles, Troy Smith is raising money for mental health research through a charity auction offering gameday experiences at the Shoe for Buckeye fans.
Ohio State’s most recent Heisman Trophy winner is offering Buckeye fans the opportunity to hang out with him at an Ohio State football game this fall while helping fund mental health research in the process.
An auction launched by 2006 Heisman winner Troy Smith over the weekend is offering fans the chance to bid on packages for Ohio State’s four biggest home games this season – this week’s game against Notre Dame as well as the Buckeyes’ Sept. 24 game against Wisconsin, Oct. 22 game against Iowa and Nov. 26 game against Michigan – which will give winning bidders the opportunity to hang out with Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Mike Doss and other Buckeye greats on gameday.
Four packages, which are open for bidding on the auction’s website, are being offered for each game. The Ultimate Heisman Experience, for which bids start at $10,000 for each game, will allow two fans to watch the game with Smith and Ginn inside the Huntington Club at the 50-yard line. The Gold Experience (which has an opening bid of $5,000) will include AA level sideline tickets, while the Silver Experience (starting at $2,500) includes A level sideline tickets. All four experiences for each game, including the Bronze Experience (starting at $1,500) will come with two tickets to Doss’ pregame tailgate, access to a postgame party with Smith and Ginn at TownHall and Mandrake Rooftop and a collective NFT.
A percentage of the proceeds from each auction – Smith said it will be at least 10% of each winning bid – will be donated to the Jeffrey Schottenstein Program for Resilience, a mental health research fund at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.