‘Hollywood Tod’: Wichita Northwest community mourns loss of football star
The Wichita Northwest community has been in mourning this week following the death of 2021 graduate Todric McGee.
McGee, a standout football player at Missouri State, died from what the Springfield Police Department ruled as an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound this past Saturday. McGee, 21, was set to graduate from Missouri State in December with a psychology degree.
“He wasn’t depressed, there’s no mental issues or anything like that that would make this happen, it’s just a tragic accident,” Stephanie Pope, McGee’s mother, told Springfield television station KY3. “I just want people to know that you know he’s a good kid.”
While McGee was best known for his abilities on the football field, he was loved back home in Wichita as a fiercely loyal friend who was so popular that he earned the moniker “Hollywood Tod.”
“Everyone loved Todric,” said Blake Chadwick, a childhood best friend. “He was extremely funny and he was one of those people who could fit in with anybody. He could always say something to break the ice and make people laugh. He always knew what to say and when to say it.”
Following the tragic news, a family get-together was called at the Chadwick household earlier this week. Blake was joined by his younger brothers, Gavin and Cooper, and his parents, Bryan and Joanna, to reminisce about their love for McGee.
They recalled memories of the grade-school basketball team that Blake and Todric played on and Bryan coached. They laughed when they remembered how he was allergic to peanut butter, which they always had to remind themselves to avoid when he was around. They laughed when they recounted stories of how McGee would stand up for any of his friends.
But then the tears came when they realized McGee should have been right there with them and he wasn’t — and won’t ever be again.
“That’s the problem, he had such a bright future and we lost him,” Bryan Chadwick said. “We just don’t know how far he could have went because the sky was the limit for Todric. He was an incredible athlete and he was an incredible person. He was just so good. That’s Blake’s best friend. That’s my other son. That’s Cooper and Gavin’s big brother. It hurts to lose a brother. It doesn’t have to be blood. Our family is family.”
McGee played basketball at Northwest for Bryan Chadwick, who has since moved on to become the girls basketball coach at Derby. He also participated on the track and field team during the spring.
But there was no doubt he was best on the football field, where he was an all-state safety for the Grizzlies and played a pivotal role in helping the program finish with a 34-3 record with three straight trips to the Class 5A state championship game during his final three years.
“Todric had a smile that could light up a room,” Northwest football coach Steve Martin said. “He made people around him better just by being around them. There was never a dull moment with Todric around, whether it was goofing around in the locker room with his teammates or out with his friends. You were always going to have a great time with him. Todric was an amazing young man that had the world in the palm of his hand. He will be missed dearly.”
His mother, Stephanie Pope, and his older sister, Tahlia Pope, a Wichita Heights graduate who played Division I basketball, were in attendance on Monday in Springfield when loved ones released balloons into the sky to honor McGee.
It was at Missouri State where McGee’s bright future was beginning to take off. He had remained loyal to the program when bigger Division I schools came calling. And after rehabilitating a season-ending knee injury from 2024, McGee was poised for his best season yet with the Bears this fall.
Missouri State football coach Ryan Beard has said that the team plans to have either a helmet sticker or jersey patch to honor McGee this upcoming season.
“He was excited for what was ahead of him,” Pope told the Springfield Daily Citizen. “Getting to play against USC in Los Angeles, graduation. He wanted to be a sports psychologist and help athletes transition to the real world when their playing days were over.”
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