By Fancy Robbins
“He got knocked off our golf cart …. we left him there.”
A good friend wouldn’t leave him behind laying in front of 65,000 people. But that’s what you have to do when the Los Angeles Rams and the Indianapolis Colts are lining up for kickoff.
Ryan May, a 2014 Delta High School graduate, is the 28-year-old field manager at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Any and every event that comes to Lucas Oil – from concerts, to NFL games, to the USA Olympic Swim Trials to national conventions – he works with his team to make sure that the events run smoothly.
During halftime of the Rams vs. Colts game on Sept. 19, 2021, May was working hurriedly with his staff to take down a stage used during the halftime show. They tried to dodge the Rams’ special teams players as they warmed up for the second half.
The workers unfortunately failed to do this when one of them was hit in the head with a football kicked by one of the Rams’ kickers. He was knocked off the golf cart they were riding on.
The rest of the workers couldn’t stop for their coworker due to the short amount of time they had left to clear the field.
“[The medical team] took him off the field and five seconds later, they kicked it off for the second half,” May said.
He started the job when he was just 24 years old. May believes he might be the youngest NFL stadium field manager.
“There’s 30 NFL stadiums in the entire country and there’s 30 field managers. I’m one of 30,” May said. “I’ve taken each day as a blessing because there’s not a lot of us out there who have this job.”
Growing up, he played numerous sports, like football, basketball, soccer and baseball. As his high school career ended, he knew he wouldn’t be able to play sports for much longer so he started to look for ways to stay involved.
Before he went to college, he started to gain experience for his future major. He was the boys’ basketball manager for four years at Delta and baseball manager for one.
“He was a young leader who was very conscientious and paid attention to detail,” former Delta High School basketball head coach Stan Daugherty said. “It was obvious even in high school that he would be successful as an adult.”
During his college search May looked for a school that was good for his major (sports management) and a place that felt like home.
“I chose Xavier University because it felt like the best place for me,” May said.
He was interested in the sports management program at Xavier. He knew that the school’s NCAA Division 1 athletics and the professional sports teams in Cincinnati would give him opportunities for his future career.
During his sophomore year, he worked in the athletic department at Xavier, then his junior year he started working with the Cincinnati Reds and interned at a high school helping the athletic office.
Directly after college, he got a job as an assistant athletic director at James N. Gamble Montessori High School in Cincinnati. He continued to work with the Reds as well.
“As I’ve gained experience in each job, it has helped me out for the next job and I will take it with me from there,” May said.
In 2019 he moved back to Indiana and started working with Pacers Sports & Entertainment as a setup worker at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Due to COVID-19, the business had to lay off employees and May was one of them. But a few weeks after that, one of his former bosses informed him about an opening at Lucas Oil Stadium.
He jumped on the opportunity and went through with interviews and became the field manager of Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I enjoy getting to be part of the team that gets to put events on, so different people can come and enjoy those events,” May said.
As a sports fanatic, his favorite events are the sports related ones, like Colts games, but he’s learned to love the non-sports events.
He gets to be on the field every Colts game. He also was at all three nights of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and attends every other event at the stadium.
But he doesn’t always just get to sit back and watch the events. He is constantly working with his team to make sure everything is going well.
His team consists of two full-time workers and an intern. They stay away from celebrities because they are trying to do their job, and so are the celebrities.
“The biggest obstacle is managing the schedule,” May said. “There’s always something going on.”
May once worked a 38-hour shift without sleeping due to two events being all day on back-to-back days.
Lucas Oil Stadium was hosting the National Eucharistic Congress (a Catholic conference) this past summer. The next day the Big 10 Conference was coming in for football media day.
Setting up for these events involved painting the field, setting up stages, putting tables and chairs out and picking up the floor.
“As a manager, you have to balance out your time as much as you can to get some sleep, make sure you’re eating and have a life outside of work,” May said.
A co-worker being knocked out and extremely long shifts aren’t the only crazy things that have happened to him as field manager.
During the COVID pandemic, in March of 2021, the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball postseason tournament was in Indianapolis.
Before the national championship game, where Baylor beat Gonzaga, the confetti cannon went off and flooded the court an hour before the players came out.
May spent that hour on a ladder with a leaf blower near the backboards getting the confetti off before the television coverage began.
