Gophers' Casey O'Brien, Justin Grunewald team up for cancer fundraiser before border battle against Wisconsin
Both impacted by cancer, two Gopher athletes are teaming up to raise money for cancer research, with a goal of bringing Minnesota and Wisconsin fans together before a huge Big Ten football game at the end of the month.
The fundraiser is headed by Casey O'Brien, a four-time cancer survivor who currently plays for the Gopher football team, with support from Justin Grunewald, a former Gopher runner who lost his wife Gabe Grunewald to cancer earlier this year.
Gabe Grunewald carved out a successful professional running career despite being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma while she ran for the Gophers in 2009.
"In honor of Gabe and Casey, Justin is supporting osteosarcoma research at the University of Minnesota. For every dollar raised, the Brave Like Gabe Foundation will match up to $100,000," the crowdfunding campaign explains.
WCCO reports that the fundraiser was launched now in an effort to bring border rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin together before the two respective football programs go to battle in a game Nov. 30 at TCF Bank Stadium that could decide the winner of the Big Ten West Division.
"No matter your allegiance on the field, please join Justin in supporting Casey’s “Team One Four” by making a donation to osteosarcoma research," the fundraiser says.
As of Thursday morning, the campaign had raised more than $10,000.
Gabe Grunewald died June 11 at the age of 32. Her prosperous running career included finishing second in the 1,500m at the 2010 NCAA championships and narrowly missing out on the 2012 Olympic team.
She later created the Brave Like Gabe Foundation, raising money and awareness for cancer treatments.
O'Brien's dream was to play college football for his home state Gophers, and that dream came true when he got on the field as a placeholder in Minnesota's victory over Rutgers on Oct. 19.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.