A former Indiana football star had fallen on hard times. A chance encounter with a fellow Hoosier gave him a new lease on life.

While walking along a path in Austin, Texas, earlier this year, Jasper Steinmetz spotted a man with something both familiar and out of place. "I saw the Indiana University athletic backpack, and since I had just graduated from Indiana, we had that commonality. And I figured, you know, why not talk to him?" Steinmetz told CBS News. Steinmetz learned the man was originally from Indiana. He had been homeless for eight months, and his name was Sampson James. Steinmetz later got quite the shock when he Googled James.He discovered James had been a four-star football recruit out of Avon High School in Avon, Indiana. In 2019, he joined Indiana University's football team as a freshman running back. He then transferred to Purdue in 2021, before briefly returning to Indiana University as a walk-on in 2023."He was an amazing athlete, really a standout star," Steinmetz said.His football dream crumbled, though.