Game 56 – Mission Accomplished in Dallas!

Since kicking off our mission on September 5th, we have made Warrior wishes come true at a total of 54 NFL games!

We have hosted warriors at every NFL stadium but 1. And after today, when we make wishes come true in Dallas, we can officially say Mission Accomplished!

They say everything is bigger in Texas and You can say we saved one of the best experiences for last. This year we pulled out all the stops and had a Texas sized party at the Cowboys game! The final piece to the puzzle!

Now this doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to make more wishes come true this season, but our mission of making wishes come true at All32in17 (All 32 NFL stadiums in 17 weeks) is officially complete!

We get a lot of nominations throughout the year, but nothing compares to the amount of nominations we receive to see America’s team. Since starting our mission we have received over 100 requests to attend a game in Dallas. We have had the opportunity to make a lot of those wishes come true throughout the years…

And this year we were able to knock out 13 nominations at this game! Warriors from across the country (7 different states) who have always dreamed of seeing their Cowboys play at AT&T stadium. We made their dreams a reality!

Today we were honored to host Army SSG Steven Horne, USMC MSGT Jose Reyna, Army Sgt Alberto Salazar Jr, Army Sgt Randy Stephens, Army Curt St. Pierre, Army SSG Robert Ochoa Jr., Navy E5 William Evans, Army SSG David Riley, Army E4 William Taylor Jr, Army E7 Jimmy Troy II, Army Jason Gornicec, Army SPC Ryan Fair and Army SPC Ben Bell at the Cowboys game.

For the first time all season, I had the opportunity to host the warriors at a game with my dad. It was awesome to team back up!

I flew out Saturday night and arrived at the airport after 1am. Instead of wasting money on a hotel, I got to experience what my dad does and spent the night at the airport waiting for him to arrive on his flight from Philly.

He hosted warriors at the Army Navy game yesterday…

Upon his arrival around 10am, we hopped in our rental car and made our way directly to AT&T stadium to meet up with the warriors at the tailgate.  Our friend Julio AKA “Mr. Prime” and his crew of ultimate fans offered to host our group of warriors for a tailgate party before the game. Julio, who is a veteran himself, and his crew have been helping make wishes come true since we started our mission in 2012. We appreciate their support!

The Warriors began to arrive at the tailgate around 10am. Upon their arrival my dad and I greeted them and presented them each with a custom #32 (32nd stadium) Dallas Cowboys Salute to Service Jersey and a Warrior wishes cap for the game.

Everyone enjoyed getting to know each other. One of our favorite aspects of our mission is connecting veterans. Yea the experience revolves around a football game, but when you see the warriors connecting with each other, relaxing and having fun, you realize that our mission is so much more than a game.

As game time approached we headed over to the stadium to take a group photo before making our way inside to watch the Rams and Cowboys kick things off.

Unfortunately I was not able to get all the seats together, but I was able to score great seats for the warriors and their guests.  The Cowboys gave the warriors A LOT to cheer about! They absolutely dominated the Rams the entire game. In the end they won 44-21!

And although the game was over, the mission was not. Our goal is always to provide unforgettable memories at every game. And Cowboys offensive lineman, Zack Martin helped us out!

Zack provided Landry room passes. The ultra exclusive Landry Room is basically a post game players party. It’s a place for Cowboys players, coaches, friends and family meet up after the game. Thankfully today they were all meeting up to celebrate a big win!  The warriors had the opportunity to meet Zack Martin, La’el Collins, Blake Jarwin, Jason Garrett and more!

Steven even got lucky enough to meet Ezekiel Elliot as he and his wife were walking out to the car!

I personally enjoyed meeting Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Rod Marinelli.  Rod served in Vietnam.  It was an honor to shake his hand and welcome him home!

It was an overall great day but the experience was still not over!  To enhance the warriors Cowboys experience, we booked a VIP tour for Monday morning. Having said that, we hooked up the warriors with hotel accommodations at the 4 star Hyatt Regency in Downtown Dallas!

The hotel provided the warriors with welcome packages that included tickets to passes for the Reunion Tower and the 6th Floor (Kennedy) museum!

The hotel was awesome! I want to personally than Madison for going above and beyond for help us enhance the overall experience! She hand wrote a note to all of the warriors to thank them and welcome them to Dallas.

Everyone was up early Monday morning and we all met back up at the stadium around 8:15am Monday morning for our VIP tour.  Kyle at the Cowboys also went above and beyond to help us make the warriors experience special. He personally came in early to escort everyone on the field to take some pictures!  VIP Tours typically include a field experience, but the East West high school football game was being played Monday morning which prevented tour groups from taking the field. But thanks to Kyle for making it happen for us!

The warriors faces lit up with smiles from ear to ear as they walked out of the tunnel and onto the field! We took pictures on the 50 yard line and even had the opportunity to catch touchdown passes! It was amazing!

Maria eventually took over for Kyle and guided us around AT&T stadium. She took us into the club, suites, cheerleader Locker Room, Cowboys Locker Room and more! “Jerry’s World” is pretty incredible!

As the tour ended we said our goodbyes to many of our guests. The warriors and their family members were beyond grateful to be a part of this unforgettable experience. Some said “this was a dream come true” others said “it was one of the best days of my life.”

All we can say is “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!”

Check out all the photos from this incredible experience here!

I want to personally thank Steven, Jose, Alberto, Randy, Curt, Robert, William, David, Nate, Walter, Jimmy, Jason, Ryan and Ben for their selfless service and sacrifices.  I also want to take a minute to thank their families for nominating them for this experience and for always standing beside these amazing men and supporting them.  It was an absolute honor to make your wishes come true in Dallas!

As I mentioned before, our mission is so much more than experiencing a football game. It’s about going above and beyond for those who go above and beyond the call of duty for us, it’s about connecting veterans and giving them an opportunity to get our and enjoy themselves. It’s about putting a smile on their faces and providing them with an experience that they will never forget!

Not only are we thankful to everyone who specifically helped us make these wishes come true in Dallas, but we also want to take a minute to thank everyone who has made a donation to keep our mission going. Your contributions do not go to pay salaries, we get paid in smiles. Your contributions make these dreams come true and we couldn’t make them come true without you!

When My dad and I started our mission on September 5th 2012, we never imagined that we would have had the opportunity to host nearly 5,000 warriors at over 1000 events! We’re forever grateful to everyone out there who has helped us along the way!

TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!

I also want to personally take a minute to thank my dad for his dedication to making wishes come true and for showing me that nothing is impossible with hard work and determination. I’m proud of all we have done as a father and son team! It was awesome to team back up with you for this Cowboys experience! Thank you Dad!

Speaking of hard work and dedication, my dad started his day Sunday morning in Philadelphia. He flew to Dallas to help me make wishes come true at the cowboys game, took a $1 megabus to Houston after the game. Where he had a 4 hour “layover” before catching a 2nd $1 megabus from Houston to New Orleans. In less than 24 hours he was in Philly, Dallas, Houston and New Orleans! That is dedication! He will be making wishes come true at the Saint game Monday night. Stay tuned for more details!