Dayton ‘can man’ makes a killing after UD game

He calls himself “the can man” and if he could make the Flyers win every night, he would for the sheer profit of it.

John Kennedy says he’s made a point of making it over to the University of Dayton campus on game nights so he can collect the hundreds of cans left behind by fans. After Wednesday’s win against Boise State, Kennedy said he collected more than $50 worth of cans, and had to stop picking them up because he got tired. After each Flyer win, he said he collects more cans in one night than he can usually scrounge up in an entire week.

On Friday night, Kennedy spent the evening with students watching the UD-Providence game on a projector outside on Kiefaber Street. They offered him food and a spot to watch the game as well as all of their empty pop cans.

“It’s not a bad deal, and we gave him some food, and he’s welcome here anytime he wants to watch a game,” said Joey Perman, a UD student who hosted a party Friday night.

The chance at making a profit has become as exciting as a Flyers win for Kennedy.

“I’ve been doing this for awhile, and I like it when UD wins tournaments like this because when they do, I make a killing,” Kennedy said. “The poor man makes a dollar. It’s good for business.”

Kennedy lives in Dayton and collects cans using a shopping cart that he later loads into a vehicle he drives to where he plans to collect that day. He said scrapping is his “full-time job” and only source of income.