Golden Gopher Football Endzone Cannon
Facebook marketplace is an interesting place, to say the least. An online garage sale full of mostly junk and one click away from knowing all of the seller’s political beliefs. Every so often, a true gem will pop up and I’m convinced the latest item to pop up on my feed might be the coolest thing to ever be on marketplace; the Minnesota Golden Gopher Football Endzone Cannon.
Clay Conrad has listed a 1-of-1 Minnesota Golden Gopher Football endzone cannon! The description states,
This piece is an original 1 of 1 from the estate of Rodney S. Wallace who was the “cannon man” for the University of Minnesota Gophers and also for the Minnesota Vikings. This cannon was in attendance for 22 years of home games and fired off for every touchdown, extra point and team introductions. This cannon is fully functional and ready to be fired! You simply need a 10 gauge blank and the ability to pull the string!
There are plenty of things to be excited about with college football returning. Just imagine having access to this thing while watching the Gophers at home. Hanging out in the garage, enjoying some Mich Goldy Lights, and firing off a cannon after every GOLDEN GOPHER TOUCHDOWN? This is what dreams are made of.
Golden Gopher Football Endzone Cannon
This would also be the ultimate tailgate tool. Maybe you could fire it off every time a 7th Avenue Pizza is done cooking? The options are endless but it’s not cheap. The listing is currently at $16,500 but you’re buying more than 20 years of Golden Gopher football tradition for that money.
Golden Gopher Football Endzone CannonI
It even comes with an awesome cover.
Dylan Wright might be impossible to cover but this cannon isn’t. This custom-made Golden Gopher cannon cover will do just the trick.
I reached out to Clay to ask him about how he obtained the cannon, he was super helpful and gave me a ton of info. Honestly, I’d usually spend time rephrasing the conversation but Clay has given me no reason to do that.
This cannon belonged to Rodney S. Wallace who was a Minnesota businessman and philanthropist. Most well known for his ownership of the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington, MN from 1962-2004
The Minnesota Gophers football practice fields both indoor and outdoor are named after Rodney, as well as a Wallace Atrium on the U of M campus and the first archway as you walk into TCF stadium is dedicated to Rodney as he was the first person to donate $1 million towards the building of the stadium
Rodney’s love for the gophers was steady and longstanding. So much so that he himself proposed the cannons to both the Gophers and MN vikings. Both were keen on the idea but wouldn’t pay for it, so Rodney sponsored and operated the cannons out of his own pocket from 1993-2015.
When Rodney got into his latter years and health was declining, he could no longer operate the cannons, and thus the teams chose to retire them. Having funded them himself, Rodney chose to keep the cannons and would shoot them off at special occasions.
-Clay Conrad
Now wait just a moment… did he say Minnesota Vikings games as well?!
YUP! There’s a Vikings Cannon!
Holy moly.
Just look at it.
These things are amazing. It turns out Clay is very good friends with Rodney’s kids so he’s helping them with liquidating Rodney’s lifelong collection. Rodney was the only one to operate the cannons for the entire duration they were used. You can find pictures and videos of the cannons being used at every home game for both teams for over two decades. As a Gopher alum, I was excited to just see the cannons but the story is also wonderful.
My wife has been asking for a new kitchen for a pretty long time now. That’s a normal thing to ask for but it’s possible what she really needs in her life is the University of Minnesota Gopher Football Touchdown Cannon. Anyone can have a nice kitchen but only one person can own this piece of Gopher football history.
Minnesota Golden Gopher Football Endzone Cannon
If you’re feeling like spending a ton of money, you can view the listing here. Or if you’re feeling generous, I will accept $16,500 to have not borrow so I can own this for myself. You can Venmo me at @NickLewis37. Thank you in advance. Ski-U-Mah, Row the Boat, Go Gophers.
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I was in at least 3 people’s Myspace Top 8. I have as many NBA Championships as Tom Brady. I’m probably too old to be here. @NickLewis37