Simpson University Students Support Injured Quarterback
Students hand-painted one thousand rally towels to honor an injured Mayville State quarterback.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Philanthropy
Simpson University students distributed 1,000 hand-painted rally towels at a home game to show support for injured Mayville State quarterback Matt Donovan. Attendees and athletes also participated in a moment of silence and prayer to honor the athlete.
Why it matters
The initiative serves as a community effort to extend solidarity toward a student-athlete following a serious injury. It highlights how university programs and student groups coordinate to provide support across state lines during challenging times.
Students and the women's flag football team hand-painted 1,000 rally towels. These items were distributed to fans during a home game against Valley City State to honor the Mayville State player.
The players
Matt Donovan
He is a quarterback for Mayville State who sustained a serious injury during a recent game.
Simpson University
A university located in Redding, California, that organized the support effort.
Jewels Zaragoza
She is a graduate assistant at Simpson University who helped coordinate the towel project.
Trey Bumstead
He is a graduate assistant at Simpson University who served as a lead organizer for the event.
The details
Graduate assistants Jewels Zaragoza and Trey Bumstead organized the effort, with the women's flag football team assisting in the manual labor. Each towel was marked with the name and number of the injured quarterback.
Timeline
October 22, 2026: The rally towels were distributed to fans during a home football game.
Market Landscape
This effort follows a pattern set by the 2023 Damar Hamlin cardiac arrest recovery movement of utilizing athletic arenas to broadcast collective support for injured athletes. Such displays reflect the growing role of university philanthropy in fostering cross-institutional community ties.
The event was designed to bolster community morale and express institutional support for an injured rival player. Local fans and visitors to the stadium were able to participate directly in the tribute by receiving the rally towels.
The takeaway
Large-scale displays of support can effectively unify diverse student bodies and sports communities during times of crisis. These organized efforts demonstrate how campus groups can leverage collective resources to provide meaningful morale boosters for injured athletes.
Further reading
Learn more about local efforts in the Philanthropy section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by NAIA.
