TAMPA — Any sports fan has dreamed of winning tickets to a championship game. But how many fans have put those dreams into action? One Kansas City Chiefs fan, who's also a season ticket holder, entered a contest to win tickets to Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida, and his effort paid off big time.
David Garrett and his family saw the Chiefs claim a second consecutive AFC Championship at Arrowhead Stadium in January 2021. As soon as the game was over, Garrett knew what would happen next.
"I had decided months ago that I was going to take the whole family down here," Garrett said. "Even if we didn't have a ticket to the game."
After the AFC Championship, he booked flights and accommodations in Tampa, but also began actively searching for contests to enter for tickets. He chose one from the American Cancer Society, which was partnering with the NFL.
"It was $10 per entry, so I thought I'd buy two, $20," Garrett said. "A week later, I got an email, because they wanted to do a video conference call with me."
He never could have expected a very famous face to appear on that conference call, with incredible news.
"I'm talking to the nice lady from the American Cancer Society, and she says, 'Let me transfer you over to my assistant,'" Garrett said. "And Mario Lopez pops up on my screen. And I said, 'You're not her assistant, you're Mario Lopez.' And he says, 'That's right. Congratulations, you're going to the Super Bowl.' And I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?'"
Garrett won two tickets, plus hotel and airfare. And as a season ticket holder, he had a chance to buy another ticket for his son, Jackson, and do his own fun phone call.
"I'm walking back from class, so I'm in the middle of all my buddies as I'm walking," Jackson Garrett said of the moment his father called him with the news. "I didn't want to start hooping and hollering as I'm walking!"
Now at just 20 years old, thanks to $20, Jackson could witness his team secure a second Super Bowl win.
"I don't know what I can do with my life after this," Jackson said. "It's about as high as it'll get."
David said his daughter, who's a college athlete, can't attend the game because of a competition. He said the contest usually includes passes onto the field and tickets to parties in the host city. This year, because of COVID-19, he'll instead get an official Super Bowl LV football.
The American Cancer Society told 41 Action News there were hundreds of entrants into the contest.
