Zephian Wade wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“When we went to Pitt two years ago, we lost a lot of footballs,” Wade told The Athletic on Sunday. “So one of our main goals and something our boss was emphasizing was making sure we get footballs back. Or attempt to. I was just trying to do my job. I didn’t know it was going to turn into this.”

It’s the toughest assignment for an equipment manager like Wade, whose game-day assignment for Louisville is working as a ball boy. Retrieving the football after a turnover can be tricky.

On Saturday, Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles intercepted Miller Moss late in the first quarter and returned the football — which belonged to Louisville and is emblazoned with a Cardinal red Adidas logo — 75 yards for a touchdown.

Biles took it to the Pitt sideline to celebrate, and Wade tried to wrest the ball away. Biles grabbed Wade from behind, and a scramble for the football ensued.

“When I went to pick it up, next thing I know, I feel hands, being grabbed and held,” Wade said. “I’m like, what is going on?”

Panthers defensive lineman Isaiah Neal immediately sprang to help Biles as Biles grabbed Wade’s shirt and prevented him from retrieving the ball. Neal scooped up the loose ball before Wade could get it and heaved it over his head as Wade knocked Neal to the ground. An unidentified person on the sideline picked the ball up and tossed it back to Biles, who celebrated with a Eurostep toward the stands and tossed the ball to his family.

“At that point, I started thinking we weren’t getting that ball back,” Wade said. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen.”

In college football, each team supplies the footballs for when its offense is on the field. Louisville’s equipment staff arrives with 10-12 balls broken in and ready for game use, as well as a host of other balls used in pregame that aren’t for game use.

Most often, opponents will hand the ball to an official or celebrate on the sidelines and discard the ball after a touchdown or turnover. Ball boys like Wade then scramble to recover the ball and put it back in the bag they carry around to get the ball ready for play again.

“I’ve been on many sidelines where people talk mess and talk trash to you. That doesn’t bother me. That’s expected,” Wade said. “But I’ve never had somebody put their hands on me, grab me or almost tackle me for a football.”

At Pitt two years ago, the Louisville equipment staff left without three or four of the balls they came with. Wade, a senior at Louisville majoring in sports administration with a minor in sports media, wasn’t going to leave Pitt with the same story this time.

Wade played football in high school at Oakland High, a powerhouse in Murfreesboro, Tenn. He figured out quickly that playing in college wasn’t in his future, but he wanted to be a part of it. He liked the idea of helping to set up for practice, setting up players’ lockers, stretching jerseys over pads and embracing the responsibilities placed on an equipment staff. A friend working as an equipment manager at Middle Tennessee told him he should look into it.

“I didn’t even know this was a job until my senior year of high school,” said Wade, whose first name, Zephian, was given by his grandfather in reference to Zephaniah, who has an Old Testament book of the Bible named after him.

When Wade toured colleges, he asked about openings on the football equipment staff. Most schools didn’t have much of an answer for him. Louisville did. They connected him with the director of equipment operations, Ed Connell, who asked if Wade was really interested.

“We talked and from then on, I’ve been blessed to have the job now since my freshman year,” Wade said. “It’s been fantastic.”

And until Saturday, the job was mostly incident-free.

Dustups between players and equipment staff are rare. Catching it on video is even rarer, though last year a clip gained attention after Shedeur Sanders and Deion Sanders Jr. confronted a Texas Tech ball boy trying to retrieve a ball from their brother, defensive back Shilo Sanders.

It happened, of course, after a fumble returned for a touchdown. Texas Tech’s ball boy was trying to get their ball back, too.

Texas Tech’s ball boy was ready to take on the entire Sanders family by himself pic.twitter.com/hzbq5wRxLF

— College Sports Only (@CSOonX) November 10, 2024

“I don’t think a lot of people realize how much work equipment managers put in behind the scenes. We do so much and shouldn’t have to be going through so much just to get a football,” Wade said. “I’ve seen people say, ‘Oh, this guy’s taking his job too seriously. It’s just one football.’ But for me, like I am very serious about this job. I take pride in this job. A lot of people just think we just do laundry for the team. We do more than that.”

After seeing that the football was lost to the stands at Acrisure Stadium, Wade contacted the Pitt security staff in hopes they might help retrieve it. He also contacted Connell, who was angry about Pitt’s players putting their hands on his staffer.

Meanwhile, Louisville rallied. The pick six buried the Cardinals in a 17-0 hole. The Cardinals pitched a shutout in the second half, coming back to win 34-27 to remain undefeated.

Pitt security and Pitt’s equipment staff helped recover the ball and get it to Wade. He wasn’t sure how they got it from Biles’ family.

“It wasn’t just me. It was a team effort,” Wade said.

The clip of Pittsburgh’s players keeping the football from Wade was shown and discussed on the game broadcast and quickly went viral. On the sidelines, a coworker informed Wade that he was a hot topic on social media.

ESPN’s “SportsCenter” did a brief segment about the run-in Saturday night and posted a clip on its social channels to millions of followers.

Once Wade checked his phone, he saw a wave of support. But he had his own message after the Louisville victory.

He posted a photo of himself pointing to the ball.

“In case yall are wondering, WE GOT THAT BALL BACK AND TOOK HOME A DUB GO CARDS BABY,” he wrote.

In case yall are wondering, WE GOT THAT BALL BACK AND TOOK HOME A DUB GO CARDS BABY pic.twitter.com/tjoUGD9d9p

— Zephian (@Zephian5) September 27, 2025

Louisville legend and Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell reposted his message. But the most memorable interactions were from Wade’s group chat with fellow equipment managers.

“They all texted me just saying great stuff, thank you for defending equipment managers,” Wade said. “That’s the thing, I just want to make sure that equipment managers and anybody who works behind the scenes get some type of support and love because we usually don’t.”

(Photo: Courtesy of Zephian Wade)