ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Todd Shelton is what every high school football team should want in a coach, he’s resilient, passionate, intelligent, and most importantly, accountable. That’s why Howard Brown, head coach of McCluer High school, wasted no time giving his former player a chance.
Shelton grew up in the area, graduated from McCluer South Berkeley and went to Missouri Western State University to play football. His knowledge of the game and the city made him a perfect fit.
The only thing is, Shelton is bound to a wheelchair after being shot and paralyzed nearly a year ago, yet he hasn’t stopped caring for his kids and he hasn’t stopped coaching.
Shelton made several appearances at McCluer games this past season and said he has plans to be around as much as possible, the catch, it adds up going back and forth to practice every day and games every Friday or Saturday. He can’t work and his family can only do so much, that’s why friends like Brandon Jordan and others have stepped up to his aid.
Jordan, the owner of Guerrilla Gaming decided to host a Madden 20 tournament at Mystic Bar and Grill. He said 50% of the proceeds will go to help Shelton pay off some of his medical bills.
“We been friends since elementary school,” Jordan said. “He’s a great person to the community, he have did so much for the community and I felt like this would be a great opportunity to show him how the community supports him.”
Sarah Walls, who assists Brandon Jordan with Guerrilla Gaming, said this was a no brainer to help Shelton.
“We thought, what better deserving person to do it for and it’s Madden football, so why not Todd,” Walls said.
While this event will help raise money for Shelton and let people have a little fun, Jordan said it’s also to help raise awareness of what’s going on in the city and to help stop the violence.
“We need more support and we need more good people to come out and support this man,” Jordan said.
The event itself will kick-off Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. and will end around 9 p.m. It costs $25 to enter the tournament and if video games aren’t your thing, you can get in with a small donation of $10.
To register, call Sarah Walls at 573-575-8070.
