Meet the mightiest new Bobcat: Loic Blackford

Montana State Football has gained a new player and he’s unlike any other athlete Bozeman has ever seen. 

On Monday, Sept. 28, Loic Blackford officially signed with MSU Football through Team IMPACT— a national program that matches children facing severe illnesses or disabilities with college athletic teams. At just five years old, Loic is the youngest player to commit to Bobcat football.

Loic lives with a condition known as PKAN — pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration — which causes iron to build up in his brain, according to his mother, Sherine Blackford. He was diagnosed in 2023.

“The best way to describe it, it’s a lot like ALS, but worse in that not only do you lose all of your abilities over time, but it's incredibly painful,” Sherine said. “His muscles have these uncontrollable contractions that hurt a lot. Over time, it steals nearly all of his ability.”

Loic was given a less than 10-year life expectancy and doctors told his family there is no cure or treatment for his condition. 

“Up until a year ago, he was running; he was walking; he was playing; he was doing most things just on a slower progression,” Sherine said. “Starting in October, we started to really see the effects of the dystonia and the PKAN for the first time. Very quickly, over an eight-week period, he lost walking; he lost running; he lost eating; he could no longer safely swallow.”

Sherine said there is no current treatment or cure for the disease, but that didn’t stop her from mobilizing resources.

“We put together a team of doctors that are developing and have developed a gene therapy,” she said. “We’re about $3 million into our $5 million goal — and hopefully in maybe a year or two we’re in a clinical trial for the gene therapy.” 

Loic became involved with MSU football earlier this year when Team IMPACT matched him with the Bobcat athletic program, according to senior free safety Taki Uluilakepa.

“We met Loic last [school] year when Team IMPACT messaged [MSU football Head Coach Brent Vigen] about it. We’ve been trying to get him around the guys as much as we can. That could be bringing him on the sidelines for a pregame or bringing him out to practice, just getting him around the guys,” Uluilakepa said. “[This morning] was really good — we got Loic back in here. We’ve been recruiting him since the spring, and it was about time we made it official to get him on the team.”

Fifth-year offensive tackle Titan Fleischmann echoed this sentiment.

“He had his official visit during our spring game, and now he’s fully on board, a part of the Bobcats; but he already was. He is a part of our team — he’s 100 percent part of it,” said Fleischmann.

He has already become one of the most beloved members of the team, according to coach Vigen.

“These guys have care and compassion and a willingness to have [Loic’s] back, so to speak. I hope that he can comprehend that part, and I think he can, that these guys are, beyond being involved with this [program], are his friends, his buddies. That’s what it’s about more than anything else. Their appreciation and care for him is genuine,” Vigen said.

While Loic spends time with the team at events, practices and games, the relationship also brings value to the Bobcat community.

“[Having Loic on the team] changes it a whole lot. You get banged up in football quite a bit. You get bumps and bruises, and sometimes big injuries; but at the end of the day, nothing can compare to what that little boy goes through on a daily basis,” Fleischmann said. “He is the toughest kid I know — the toughest person I know. And to be able to smile and enjoy it all, even when stuff’s not going your way is a great reminder for our team, and a great thing to embrace as the season goes on.”