Trinity University assistant football coach Wade Lytal has lived his life teaching strength and resilience — but nothing could prepare him for this. His 8-year-old daughter, Kellyanne Lytal, was among the young girls tragically killed when catastrophic flash floods swept through Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country earlier this month.
Kellyanne was missing for days before her body was found. A fearless spirit with a gift for song and a heart full of joy, she had just told her dad how excited she was to sing her solo in the Christmas pageant.
“She is absolutely fearless,” Wade posted online, sharing a video of her singing just weeks before the tragedy.
As the nation mourned, NFL legend Tom Brady quietly reached out — not as a celebrity, but as a father. When he heard about the coach who lost his little girl — and saw the video of Kellyanne’s solo — Brady broke down. He didn’t know Wade Lytal personally, but he knew what it meant to be a dad.
“No parent should ever have to carry that kind of pain,” Brady reportedly said to a friend. “I just want her dad to know… his little girl mattered. To all of us.”
A few days later, a carefully wrapped box arrived at the Lytal home. Inside was one of Brady’s Super Bowl footballs — the real thing, signed and inscribed:
“For Kellyanne — a star who sang with courage. With love, Tom Brady.”
Along with the ball was a handwritten letter to Wade:
“Coach, I’ve spent my life trying to lead men. You spent your life loving a girl who led with light. I will never forget her name. And I will be telling her story to my own kids tonight.”
Brady also donated to a private scholarship fund Trinity University is establishing in Kellyanne’s memory — a program that will help young girls pursue music and leadership training.
Wade, who once coached his team through seasons of hardship, now finds himself on the receiving end of comfort from teammates he never expected — from Big 12 coaches wearing green ribbons… to strangers across the country sending prayers.
And in the middle of it all, a quiet moment of kindness from one of football’s biggest legends — not for the cameras, but for a father who needed to know the world hadn’t forgotten his daughter.
