She and her husband have two small children. Monrina had been sick, unable to work, and even then who would take care of the kids? Her husband's check brings in $616 a month. Their rent and electric bill averaged $630 a month.
You do the math.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was willing to help. The volunteer organization is the world's most distinguished friend of the poor, helping the needy since 1833.
But a de Paul member first checked with the OU athletic department and was asked to refrain from helping. Aiding Monrina Reed with her rent was a possible violation of NCAA rules.
Monrina's husband is Mike Reed, a Sooner linebacker.
This is the shadowy underside of big-time college football. The sport of multimillion-dollar coaching contracts and multimillion-dollar bowl payouts and multimillion-dollar television deals, is built upon the backs of people like Mike Reed, who borrows soap from neighbors to take a shower and speed-trains 23-month-old daughter Makhya on the potty because he can't afford the Pampers and who slept on the floor of their west Norman apartment until his parents came from Florida in September and scrounged enough money to buy some second-hand furniture.
But Mike Reed's life is not a story of darkness. It is a story of light.
Mike Reed is in Oklahoma chasing two dreams. The football, you know about it. He wants to play on Sundays. Wants to be an
