It doesn't take long after meeting Ramon Nordyke to learn his abiding passion is Oregon State University football.

Now 77, he started attending games in the late 1940s and early '50s, when the Beavers played at Bell Field, where Dixon Recreation Center now stands on campus. He and his wife Marilyn became season ticket holders in 1953, the year Parker Stadium opened. It was renamed Reser Stadium in 1999. So he was there when the Beavers upset No. 1 University of Southern California, 3-0, in 1967.

"My favorite memory over the years is Jess Lewis running down O.J. Simpson," Nordyke said. "That was an amazing game."

But Nordyke, who was a fixture in section 11, row 46 for more than 40 years, hasn't been to a game since the 2008 season opener. After batting several illnesses and lung cancer the past year, Nordyke has been receiving hospice care since early spring. He is unable to attend his favorite games due to cold weather. He uses a portable oxygen tank to help him breathe.

"It was hard not to be at last weekend's game," Nordyke said. "If you had seen me here, you would have thought I was a crazy person. When Quizz (OSU running Jacquizz Rodgers) broke that first long run, I was whooping and hollering."

So imagine Nordyke's surprise and joy when OSU football players Lyle Moevao, Howard Croom and James Dockery walked into his living room Monday afternoon.

"We brought brought you a gift," Moevao, a senior quarterback, said as he handed Nordyke an OSU hat autographed by football coach Mike Riley. "You can wear it to the games to cheer us on."

Nordye's face broke into a huge smile as he sprang from the sofa, exclaiming, "What are you guys doing here?"

For the next half hour, Nordyke and the three players visited and talked about football as various family members looked on. They kept the special visit a surprise to Nordyke by passing it off as family portrait day.

Nordyke, a fourth-generation Corvallis resident, was a pretty good football player himself when he played for Corvallis High School from 1946 to '48. So he shared stories of his exploits as a running back and defensive back.

The story that had the whole room laughing didn't have anything to do with football: Nordyke also is a long-time OSU basketball season ticket holder and admits he's one of those fans who sometimes gets a little loud.

"I didn't think the band was playing the fight song enough one time," Nordyke said. "So I walked from my seats to the other other end of Gill Coliseum where the band director was, and I told him that."

Added Nordyke's son John: "He likes to hold up his bottle opener that plays the fight song and people around him will start clapping."

Good fortune played a role in making Monday's visit a reality. Eddi Gleason, a social worker with Benton County Hospice Services, said one of the organization's nurses attends the same church as Gary Beck, the OSU football team's coordinator of support services.

"When people enter hospice they usually make goals," Gleason said. "We try to do everything we can to make them happen. It's clear that Beaver football is Ray's passion."

Beck, who played football at CHS with John Nordyke, said the football team gets a lot of special requests, and players try to accommodate as many requests as possible. However, it can be difficult because of players and coaches' schedules, especially during football season.

But with the Beavers having a bye and practicing less this week, Beck said the players were more than happy to visit Nordyke.

"Our players enjoy doing this kind of stuff," Beck said. "They don't mind it all, and I think it's a good opportunity for them to meet some of the people that cheer them on."

Nordyke's day got even better when Moevao took off his thick, orange OSU sweatshirt and gave it to Nordyke as the players were leaving. Nordyke's reaction: Before they left, he had each player and Beck autograph it.