After serving 10 years as the vice president of finance for the Indianapolis Colts, Kurt Humphrey has kept family in perspective.
His niece, senior elementary education major Carly Humphrey, was in the crowd along with his mother and brother. Carly said going with him to Miami for the Super Bowl was great, but there's a lot more to him than football connections.
"I definitely feel really lucky, but he's still my uncle first," she said. "He's a bigger jokester, and he's one of the most sincere people in our family."
Discussion of the dorm life at Ball State University, advice for students and his love for football found their way into Humphrey's finance lecture.
He began by telling students how he became involved with the Colts.
When the Colts team came to Indianapolis from Baltimore, he said he wasn't a big fan. The team's controller was grounded with family in Baltimore, and a position in the franchise opened up. Humphrey said at the time, he had moved on to his second accounting firm of his career, but his first employer offered his name to the Colts as a possible candidate.
"Never burn bridges," he said.
He turned down the initial offer but reconsidered almost a week later.
In an analogy, Humphrey compared his job to the game of football.
"I can only be as good as the people working for me," he said. "Jim Caldwell couldn't have gone the Super Bowl without Peyton Manning [and the team]. Our work is like a football game because the more prepared we are, the smoother the audit will go."
Humphrey said his job can be demanding. He was late to Christmas dinner twice because he was in audit meetings.
He said family is very important. He's taken his family to two Super Bowls, and this year he turned down an offer to go to an exclusive afterparty so he could spend more time with his family.
Humphrey said there's nothing bad about his job, but he hates it when the Colts lose.
"The worst part is the finality of a football season, the emotional ups and downs," he said.
During his presentation, Humphrey advised students to get involved on campus, to not to worry too much about GPA and to get internships.
"Whenever I have to hire somebody, I don't even look at GPA," he said. "I look at a student's involvement."
Sophomore Jacob Webb said it was assuring to see how personable Humphrey was.
"I'm an accounting major, and most people think it's boring," he said. "Hearing about the lives he's influenced, it gives me hope in the profession."
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