This story was reprinted with permission from The Birmingham News.

JACKSONVILLE - Ryan Perrilloux is a football hero.

The strong-armed quarterback for the Jacksonville State Gamecocks has a well- publicized background as the most valuable player of the SEC Championship Game while he was at Louisiana State. His troubles off the field that led to his dismissal from LSU last spring have been even more high profile.

But, even if it's only to one young fan, he's a football hero.

Eli Toucey is a 4-year-old from Denham Springs, La., living with autism and cerebral palsy. His mother, Hillary Toucey, is an LSU fan. His dad, Chris, is a Gator. Eli's favorite player is Ryan "Per-woo."

While watching the Tigers on their way to an eventual national championship last year, something drew Eli to the LSU football team and especially to Perrilloux.

Hillary Toucey, who documents her family life on her blog - thetouceys.blogspot.com - was amazed, she said.

"We would have the games on in the living room," Toucey said. "Sometimes you think he's in his own world, but he's taking in everything. All of a sudden he started watching entire games. He wanted to hear the fight songs.

"In the SEC Championship, when Ryan played so much, it was `Per-woo, Per-woo!' That was the end of it. Now, that's his favorite guy."

No.1 fan:

Jan Hobbs is a speech therapist at Mitchell's Place, a center in Birmingham that provides diagnostic services, treatment, education and support for families that have been touched by autism spectrum disorder. She said it is not unusual for children with autism to become fixated on something such as sports.

Still, although she has not met Eli, she said in her experience it was unusual for a child to focus in such detail.

"One of the ways psychologists diagnose autism is they look for rapid and repetitive movements or areas of interest," Hobbs said. "Some kids may have rapid movements they do with their hands. Others have repetitive areas of interest.

"For (Eli) to choose one player, I think that's somewhat unique. We have some children who are obsessed with football, but I've never seen someone so fascinated with one detail like that."

Toucey was thrilled that Eli had discovered Perrilloux without outside encouragement.

"The greatest thing about it was Eli chose him," she said. "Eli found something he liked on his own. It wasn't like we said, `Isn't Ryan Perrilloux the greatest thing?'

"Autistic children are in their own world sometimes and it's hard to relate to them. Football - and Ryan Perrilloux - is something I can use to always bring him out a little bit."

In the buildup to LSU's national championship, Toucey entered Eli in a television station's online contest to find the Tigers' biggest fan. To her surprise, he won and the prize was a visit to an LSU practice.

"We were just ecstatic," she said, "but kind of worried. Here's this young guy (Perrilloux) and I didn't know if it would freak him out that there's this special-needs kid who adores him.

"Ryan was so good with Eli. He was very attentive and very sweet. He took Eli as Eli. It wasn't quite what I expected from a big-time football player. Coach (Les) Miles was standing there, but I don't think I even looked at him. I was just looking at Ryan and Eli.

"The way he smiled that day and laughed, it still gets to me," Toucey said. "Ryan has a special place in our hearts. If that was not the best day, it was close to the best day of my life. Eli was so happy and free."

Perrilloux said the experience had a profound effect on him, too.

"Eli, he's just a good kid," the 21-year-old said. "For me to be his favorite player, I think that's an honor.

"It makes me feel good to know a kid in his situation is looking up to a player like me in my situation. I'm trying to make that positive change, to be a positive role model so all kids can look up to Ryan Perrilloux."

Jacksonville State head coach Jack Crowe said his new QB told him about Eli shortly after he arrived in Alabama.

"I think since then, I've realized that Eli is part of a very compassionate side of Ryan you don't see until you see him with kids with special needs," Crowe said.

A strong bond:

The Perrilloux-Toucey relationship did not end with the visit that was filmed by Baton Rouge's WAFB-TV and immortalized on YouTube, or with Perrilloux's banishment from Cajun Country.

"We basically keep in touch over the Internet," Perrilloux said. "His family keeps in touch with me and lets me know what's going on. I send them e-mails to check on Eli and they check on me. They are just good people."

Toucey said Perrilloux's fiancee also stays in contact.

"He's really a gift to us," she said. "People don't just do that. They would meet the kid and think it's special that a kid likes me, but they wouldn't really follow up. He's really interested in Eli, as interested in Eli as we are in him."

Toucey said some days she wakes up to the "Good Eli" and some days to "Destructive Eli." When the youngster is having a bad day, revisiting the video excursion to meet "Per-woo" can change his mood.

`Go Gamecocks!':

When Miles dismissed Perrilloux from the team, friends of the Touceys immediately thought of Eli.

"I got about a dozen phone calls that morning and had all these messages on the answering machine," Toucey said. "I was kind of upset, mostly because I didn't know how to explain it to Eli.

"Ryan's not a bad guy. I didn't want Eli to hear what people were saying about him. I put it off for a couple of months."

Finally, she explained that sometimes players change teams. "He asked a million questions, then it was OK. He wanted to know all about Jacksonville. He's working on saying Jacksonville, but he can say `Gamecocks.'"

This weekend, the Touceys - with older brother and sister Jonah and Charlotte staying home with grandparents - took a train trip to JSU's homecoming game and a second meeting with Perrilloux.

Standing in front of an Anniston restaurant Friday evening, Eli clung to his mom's hand and hung back as Perrilloux approached. Shyness faded quickly, though.

"Eli's gotten bigger," the football star said.

Eli grinned and gave him a hug and a framed copy of a photo from their first meeting.

The little Louisianan, because of his autism, often can't control his emotions. His mom calls those episodes "meltdowns." But at dinner, Eli was a perfect gentleman - for a 4-year-old. He was laughing and smiling, wolfing down a huge onion ring side-by-side with "Per-woo."

When it was over, Perrilloux hustled away to make it to the team's trip to an Oxford movie theater to see the inspirational story of Heisman winner Ernie Davis. The Touceys didn't need to buy a ticket or sit in a dark moviehouse for a heart-tugging experience.

They would see their inspiration again at Eli's first football game and - win or lose - again as special guests at the postgame team meal. Check out Perrin's blog at blog.al.com/pressbox. mperrin@bhamnews.com