It was supposed to be just a football commercial.

There'd be a 30-second video clip of fireworks, hard hits, and touchdowns accompanied by high-energy hype music. Indiana fans in and around Bloomington would see that football season was around the corner and purchase tickets to see the Hoosiers play. Simple as that.

But as the production team began to work out the commercial's pieces, they slowly started to uncover a story that went far beyond selling football tickets.

They found out that former Indiana University President Herman B Wells happened to have a strong connection with IU Athletics—particularly with the football team. He often spoke to the team, knew them by name, and was frequently invited to deliver encouraging speeches to them—more so than other Presidents of IU.

Wells gave a particular speech commending the accomplishments of the 1945 IU football team—the same team that will be celebrated this year on the team's 70th anniversary of its undefeated Big Ten Championship—also the winningest team in IU Football history.

Sometimes, beautiful things come into our life when we aren't looking for them. That's kind of what happened here. Tim Keller, IU Communications, Creative Director

George Taliaferro, an IU legend who played on the '45 championship team, was asked to read a few of Wells' speeches that would ideally become the narration for this year's football commercial. As he began reading the script—Wells' words—the 88-year-old realized that part of one of Wells' speeches was about him.

What started as a basic 30-second football commercial became multiple videos examining the legacy and rich history of football at IU, George Taliaferro's friendship with Herman B Wells, and the deep roots of football at Indiana University.