Game 47 – Warrior Wishes Come True At The Pro Bowl!
Throughout the 2016 season, Operation Warrior Wishes made wishes come true at more than 40 regular season games & 3 playoff games including the NFC Championship game in Atlanta last week.
This weekend marked the beginning of our traditionally very busy Super Bowl week. The craziness usually doesn’t start until Monday, but this year with Pro Bowl in Orlando, we “kicked” it off little earlier to make wishes come true at the Pro Bowl.
My dad landed in Orlando just after midnight Friday night and slept a few hours at airport before hopping on a shuttle bus first thing Saturday morning.
The wounded warrior amputee football team was still in town after they played their game Friday night. A few of our friends and previous VIP guests play on the team, so my dad planned to stop at their hotel to say hi.
It ended up being Perfect timing. As he arrived at their hotel, previous VIP Guests Army Sgts Michael Kacer and Mike Smith were just heading over to Wide World of Sports to watch one of their friends play in the Women’s International Football game So my dad hopped in their car and hung out with them at Disney for awhile and bought lunch for them.
After they headed back to their hotel, my dad stuck around to check out the “Pro Bowl Experience” & met up with some old neighbors before making his way back to the airport for another “good night sleep.”
My dad said “the airport had great couches.”
On Sunday morning, dad made his way up to Buffalo Wild Wings to meet up with Army Spc John Robert Hill and his friend and mentor, Army SFC Jerry Mike. Although SPC Hill had never been a guest of our before, he was a Captain at our 3rd annual Warrior Wishes scramble this past August.
My dad welcomed these very deserving men to Buffalo Wild Wings, along with another previous guest, SGT Anthony Trzeciak and his family.
As you can see in the picture, SGT Trzeciak is a big Eagles fan. It was an honor to host him in Philadelphia during our 2015 All32in17 mission.
Jerry and John arrived first, which was perfect cuz it gave my dad a chance to catch up with John & get to know Jerry a little but before Anthony & his family arrived. My dad said he couldn’t stop thinking how much Jerry reminded him of White Sox slugger Frank Thomas. Jerry said most people say he looks like Michael Clarke Duncan of “Green Mile.”
Anthony & his family had tickets already, so we just hosted them for dinner to catch up.
Everyone had a great time hanging out getting to know each other over some delicious wings before they headed over to Camping World Stadium to watch the best players in the NFL face off against each other in the 2016 pro bowl!
This was everyone’s first Pro Bowl experience so the guys made sure to take a lot of pictures. They got a couple in front of the stadium and of course a few with the cheerleaders, before heading inside.
It was a chilly night in Orlando. Everyone enjoyed great seats located right behind the goal post. SPC Hill was cheering hard for the NFC and his Dallas Cowboys. While SFC Mike was cheering just as hard against him for the AFC and his Miami Dolphins. In the end, the AFC defeated the NFC 20-13 in one of the lowest scoring Pro Bowls in history. A great time was had by all!
Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank Nate and Nick from Buffalo Wild Wings for providing the Pre Game Meal, New Era Cap for providing Caps for the Warriors and Chive Charities for their support.
TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!
Most importantly, we would like to thank SPC John Hill, SFC Jerry Mike and each and every one of the warriors we saw over the past few days, for your service & sacrifices. It’s appreciated, has not gone unnoticed & will never be forgotten. We sincerely hope everyone appreciates what you have done for our freedom, as much as we do!
After the game, the Warriors gave my dad a ride to the airport, where he spent his 3rd straight night… before he jumped on his Monday morning flight to Houston. He will be in Houston all week long making wishes come true at some of the most exclusive Super Bowl events around town, including the Big Game! Stay tuned for more details.
