Minutes before Sampson James sat down inside the Austin Public Library to tell his story of homelessness to IndyStar, he had signed a year-long lease on a new apartment.
For the first time in months, James would soon sleep in a bed, instead of beneath a park bench or on the streets. A bed is a simple comfort most take for granted, but for the former Indiana University football player, he does not.
James has been homeless for the last seven months. How he went from the most highly recruited Indiana high school football player to living on the streets within a matter of years is complicated, and it’s something he’s not proud of, James said.
His new apartment only came because of the kindness of a stranger he met in a park earlier this month, who happened to be a recent IU grad.
When Jasper Steinmetz found out James was homeless, he couldn’t walk away without doing something life changing for him. The two are strangers no longer.
After signing the lease last week, Steinmetz and James sat down for a 45-minute Zoom interview with IndyStar. James repeatedly said he doesn’t like attention, not at all. And it’s tough to tell the world he is homeless.
He doesn’t necessarily like, either, that he’s had to rely on a small but mighty band of IU alums, football teammates and strangers to lift him out of the dark place he found himself in — yet he can’t thank those people enough.
During the interview, James was open and raw about the struggles he’s been having, and says he does not do drugs or gamble.
In the seven months since he left his brother’s home in Houston to move to Austin and live on the streets, James says he has found ways to survive.
“Obviously, there’s shelters nationwide and especially here in Austin, but I prefer, like, the natural, like me living outside and stuff like that,” he said. “I was taught a simple way of living inside, but right now I live outside and I find my way. I have food. I appreciate the weather here. Sometimes when I come indoors, it’s cooler inside. That’s why you’ll see me in longer sleeves and things of that nature.”
James blames no one and nothing but a string of bad luck for being homeless, though he said he’s noticed some changes in his brain.
“You know, football is a physical sport. It can leave some brain damage and you can forget things and you can be (unavailable) at times and you can make excuses,” he said, “and you can forget what some of the important people in your life have told you.”
Now with a fresh start, James is going back to all the sage advice he got from his high school and college coaches, remembering what they taught him about hard work, perseverance and keeping his mind and body healthy.
‘Some of the requirements I didn’t meet’
James was a football superstar at Avon High, rushing for more than 3,400 career yards, scoring 41 touchdowns and becoming one of the most sought after football recruits in Indiana high school history.
After verbally committing to Ohio State, James signed to play at IU and was, at the time, one of the highest-rated recruits ever to sign with the program.
But James’ college career didn’t live up to its four-star hype.
His freshman season, James played in all 13 games and had two starts. His most memorable college moment came during the 2019 Old Oaken Bucket win at Purdue where he rushed for 118 yards on 22 carries, including a touchdown in a dramatic 44-41 double-overtime victory.
By his sophomore year, James was in a backup role, playing in eight games during the COVID-shortened season and rushing for 96 yards. After entering the transfer portal, James went to Purdue, but never played in a game. In 2023, James returned to Indiana as a walk-on, but didn’t play.
After college, Sampson said he decided he wanted to build a relationship with his older siblings. First, he drove to California to live with his oldest brother. Then, he drove from California to Houston to live with his second oldest brother.
“And, you know, it did a number on my car. I had a 2011 Ford Fusion, like all black, and it did a number on it,” he says. “I had to give up the car, so I haven’t been like driving around and stuff like that in a couple of years.”
James doesn’t want to get into details of why he left his brother’s house in Houston, knowing he would be homeless.
“I mean, he has his requirements, like living in a home with him. And some of the requirements I didn’t meet,” says James. “And, we both came to a mutual decision of me coming here to Austin. I told him that I was going to be all right and stuff like that.
“Since then, you know, I just, I’ve been working on myself.”
Then the man James considers a savior walked into his life.
The chance meeting
James was sitting on a bench with the few belongings he owned when Steinmetz, walking his dog, passed by and spotted the IU backpack.
“As my friend walked by, he told me that he graduated from Indiana,” James says. “So, you know, that’s a great thing. I told him that I went to Indiana, as well.”
That interaction was brief. Steinmetz didn’t realize at the time that James was homeless, until he saw him in the same area around the Colorado River the next day.
That’s when Steinmetz asked James for more of his story and, when he heard it, he was in shock.
“And then I decided that, ‘OK, I’ve got this network of Hoosiers that I sponsor with my clothing brand. And I just made a group chat with all of them and told them what was going on (with James),” says Steinmetz, who graduated from IU in May. “And a lot of them reposted. And it just blew up and raised $17,000 in four days, which is just incredible that Hoosiers came together helping Hoosiers.”
Steinmetz figured the $17,000 the GoFundMe had raised was plenty. He paused the fundraiser for James, and immediately started using that money to vastly improve James’ life.
When James moved into his new apartment with a workout gym and a swimming pool Friday, June 19, Steinmetz paid for a full year’s lease. He got James a prepaid cell phone and loaded it with unlimited talk and text for seven months. He got James new clothes, a haircut, his first shower in months and has eaten a lot of lunches with him.
That’s the thing. Neither of them want this chance meeting to end.
“I support him. I would love to keep a relationship and support him however way, shape, or form I can. I would like to give back to him,” James says. “Then also, (I’d) like, living in this city, to give back to the city however shape or form that I can.”
Getting James into an apartment was the first big step, Steinmetz says, but not the last.
“I’ll be with him side by side to help him find a job and get connected with different social services that can help with the transition,” he says.
And there is more coming to this story of Steinmetz and James.
“Homelessness, it’s a problem in Austin, which is growing very fast, and something needs to be done about it,” Steinmetz says. “And this one experience helping Sampson has shown that it’s possible. It just has to be done correctly.”
There are more than 3,000 homeless people in Austin, according to the city’s point-in-time (PIT) count report, which is an estimate of the number of unhoused people on a single night in the city.
According to the most recent official count, Austin and Travis County had 3,238 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2025.
Steinmetz plans to start a nonprofit to try to help more people, and James will be a key part of that, paying it forward.
“It’s been an incredible. … I’m kind of lost for words,” Steinmetz says. “There’s just been an incredible amount of support, and I, too, am hugely grateful for it.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Ex-Indiana football player Sampson James shares story of homelessness: ‘I’m not proud’
Reporting by Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
