The gleam in Jim Erdmann's eye when he works the shot clock during the Eastern Illinois University men's and women's basketball and football games comes from years of living the Panther Pride way.
The gleam is noticeable when he talks about the annual chance he gets to reconnect with many of his teammates from his 1950s Panther football-playing days at the high school state meet hosted at EIU.
The gleam shines when he mentions the relics of Panther Athletics he's discovered in an out-of-the-way antique shop; once coveted prizes now likely discarded in estate liquidation.
The gleam glistens when enters the Panther Club office, recently acquired donation for the annual Spring Fling in hand, an event of which he's been part since its inception a decade ago.
The gleam is unmistakable each time he pops into an EIU coach's office or talks with a student-athlete. His Panther Pride is evident. You can see it in his eyes.
Jim Erdmann's history with Eastern Illinois University is rich and lengthy. A halfback hailing from an undefeated Ridge Farm High School program – city: population 900, high school: enrollment 96, graduating class: 18, number on football team: 17 – Erdmann was recruited by Coach O'Brien.
Like many footballers of that era, he chose to walk on at the University of Illinois where “I sat the bench behind two players nicknamed Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside that would go on to an illustrious career in the NFL. After a season of that, I abandoned the orange and blue for the sunny skies and girl-chasing at Arizona State University. When that didn't work out, I enrolled in the place I should have started at in the first place: EIU.”
Coach O'Brien wasn't at the helm of the football program, but he coincidentally advised Erdmann on his academic matters. He did suit up, again at halfback, for the Panthers but when asked to describe his experience during his two seasons with the football team he honestly responded: “We got our butts beat. No, we didn't win many games back in those days, but I did learn to get along with people.
I didn't join a fraternity and they wouldn't let me join a sorority but when I look back now, I know that the guys I played alongside taught me what it meant to be a teammate. That's something I am thankful for today.”
Erdmann graduated with his first degree in 1959 and returned a year later to complete a master's degree in 1961. He wouldn't return to Charleston until December of 1985 but when he did, he immediately reaffirmed his position amongst Panther Athletics' greatest supporters.
“(Past EIU Athletics Director) Ron Paap needed someone to work the clock at the football games, so I started doing that in the fall of 1986. As things naturally go, he then asked me to work the clock at the basketball games. That was 23 years ago.” You can still see Erdmann poised, focused with that gleam in his eyes today, at the official's desk.
The involvement led to Erdmann's membership in the Panther Club and, as a rolling snowball grows in size, so did Erdmann's volunteer positions. From Panther Club member he became an active board of directors member, then the chair of the Spring Fling committee and then a member of the executive board.
10 years ago, when the first Spring Fling fundraising event occurred, Erdmann worked hand-in-hand with athletic department staff to ensure the event's success. He is still a cornerstone of the event today. “It used to be a pain in the tail end tracking things down, but I enjoyed meeting with the donors. Nowadays, when I walk in the door to businesses to request donations, I don't even have to ask. They just know who I am and start getting things ready.”
That thrill parallels the feeling Erdmann gets in perhaps his biggest hobby: collecting Eastern Illinois University Athletics paraphernalia. If you ever find yourself able to view Erdmann's collection, what Assistant Athletics Director David Kidwell describes as “the best Panther Athletics museum in town… actually, in the galaxy”, you will be shocked at the comprehensive history displayed.
“When I moved back to Charleston in 1985, I was lucky enough to be able to get into the basement of Prather Printing. A lot of the game programs and media guides they had printed for EIU were about to be thrown away. I suppose that's where my collection grew in leaps and bounds.”
Today, Erdmann's eyes gleam when he describes unique pieces in his anthology that are likely now the only surviving documents of the event: a 1908 EIU Athletics & Oratorical Awards Program, a homecoming program from 1930, a 1913 Wrapper (the past-named EIU yearbook, now titled the Warbler) hunted down in an old barn come antique shop near Olney, Ill., and a 1921 medal for the 50 yard dash discovered in a Terre Haute, In., antique shop.
Displayed on the walls of several rooms is every media guide from every athletics team that was printed from 1977 to 1996. He has the media guides from 1996 to present but “there's no room for the rest of 'em”. Instead, they're housed in binders bursting at the seams.
“I love the thrill of the hunt and the challenge to find the one thing to complete a collection. I started gathering signed balls by any EIU student-athletes that went pro and almost have everyone covered.
I have 386 of the 414 Kevin Seitzer (EIU class of '85 and Kansas City Royals' infielder) cards. When Tony (Romo) started playing professionally in 2003, there were 41 cards printed in his rookie year. I bought them back then for fifty cents or a dollar apiece and compiled duplicates of a few. Last year, I decided to put three of my duplicates on eBay and they went for $190, $195 and $200. (Erdmann laughs.) Not bad!”
The gleam is apparent each time he enters O'Brien Stadium, talks about his EIU football days and touts a newly acquired piece of memorabilia. He chalks his involvement with Panther Athletics up to “being nosy, as my wife (Judy) would say” but those who have the opportunity to know him know it's much more than that.
Erdmann, quite simply, has Panther Pride. It's easy to see.
