Now, the Salish Kootenai College Foundation may laugh all the way to the bank.
When former director Mike O'Donnell suggested contacting professional sports teams about donating items for the foundation's annual scholarship auction, “We laughed at him,” says Lois Slater, who replaced O'Donnell when O'Donnell took a job at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.
The majority didn't bother to respond.
Of the 50 that did, 43 wrote to tell SKC “no.”
But seven of the 105 did donate, and the foundation hit the jackpot with one of them.
The future Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts mailed a football autographed by the entire 2006 team, from Peyton Manning to Adam Vinatieri.
Of course, when it arrived last fall, Slater and Kenmille had no idea how valuable the ball would become.
“Selina just had it sitting under her desk for a long time,” Slater says. “We'd get it out and show people once in a while.”
It didn't look like the ball would be very special in December when the Colts lost three games in four weeks to Tennessee, Jacksonville and Houston, none of which would even make the playoffs.
And while Indianapolis recovered to win its first two playoff games, it didn't look a whole lot better at halftime of the AFC Championship. New England led the Colts 21-6 in the game that would determine who would face Chicago in Super Bowl XLI.
Indianapolis stormed back to beat the Patriots 38-34, then dismantled the Bears 29-17 in Miami.
Somewhere along the line, “An administrator came down and told us, ‘You better get that football under lock and key,' ” Slater says. “And so we did.”
The Colts also sent along documents authenticating that the ball was personally signed by all the players. The only thing missing, Slater says: head coach Tony Dungy's signature.
It won't be the first piece of sports memorabilia to be auctioned at the SKC dinner, which last year raised $39,000 after expenses for the college's general scholarship fund available to all students. A basketball signed by the University of Montana Lady Griz women's team once brought in $700.
And it won't be the most unusual item. Last year SKC auctioned off a walk with Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his dog Jag for $1,700.
But Slater and Kenmille are hopeful the Colts-signed football will lure some sports fans to the May auction who might not otherwise have attended.
Slater says she's not sure why SKC didn't also contact National Basketball Association teams, except that O'Donnell didn't suggest it.
The college struck out with hockey teams, but the Colts were one of six NFL teams, and one Major League Baseball team, who sent items, ranging from a Pittsburgh Steelers license plate cover to a laser-signed photo of the Buffalo Bills.
The Green Bay Packers also sent an autographed football, from the 2005 season, and the Washington Nationals donated a baseball signed by relief pitcher Chad Cordero. The Baltimore Ravens promised something as well, but told SKC to recontact them a couple of weeks before the auction.
But it will be the Colts football that should bring in the most money.
“When Mike told us what his ‘good idea' for the auction was, we laughed at him,” Slater says. “He came in the next day and said, ‘I mean it - I'll take the idea to Hawaii with me if you're not going to do it.' We said, ‘No you won't - we'll try it.' ”
Most of the teams that wrote back to the tribal college declining to donate anything explained that they have too many local charities that make similar requests, and they limit donations to groups in their areas.
“We got so many ‘no's,' it became a joke between us,” Slater says of herself and Kenmille.
But even if they'd been turned down 104 times, getting a signed football from the team that would go on to win the Super Bowl made the effort worth it.
“Super Bowl Sunday we realized, hey, we may have something valuable here,” Slater says.
Auction details
The Salish Kootenai College Scholarship Auction and Dinner is Saturday, May 19, at the Kwa Taq Nuk Resort in Polson. A silent auction runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and a live auction. Tickets are $45 per person or $60 per couple, and available by calling 275-4820 or 275-4983.
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