A Portland carpenter is following in the footsteps of his father by repairing the Paul Bunyan trophy.
As Michigan State players celebrated their win over rival Michigan Saturday on the field, the left foot of the decades-old wooden trophy broke off.
John Rowe got the surprise call Monday from a member of MSU's coaching staff asking for help.
Five years ago, the last time Michigan State won the rivalry game, Rowe's father repaired Bunyan's axe, making the job even more special.
"I'm one of probably very few people that hasn't paid to like take this thing, or wasn't a part of the coaching staff or alumni to have this thing outside either university in the 73 years it's been made," he said. "So, it's quite the honor. My dad was just tickled pink."
Rowe doesn't blame the players for the damage and says there might have already been a structural weakness where the foot was.
"It had a quarter inch gap on it, and it fell right off."
Rowe says to make the repair, he replaced a dowel and used enough glue to hold it for another century. His mother helped out by adding some paint to make the fix seamless. He says he refused payment for the job.
"I'll just do it because if my dad's done something and I can follow in his footsteps, that's that means more to me than anything."
The trophy was returned to MSU Thursday.
