Warrior Wishes Come True In Canton!
Are you ready for some football?!!! We certainly are! For the 6th year in a row, we will be making Warrior Wishes come true at all 32 NFL stadiums in 1 season! Aka, our “All32in17” mission.
The “kicked off” today at the NFL Hall of Fame game in Canton, OH. My dad and Board Member Mark Toppel (Marine) hit the road at 3:00am & headed to Canton to make wishes come true at the Pro Football Hall of Fame!
This will mark the Grand Opening of the new Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The Saints owner contributed to a much needed major upgrade of what used to be the home of the McKinley High School Bulldogs. My dad Toured the new facility a few weeks ago & was really looking forward to hosting warriors there today.
Mark and my dad arrived in Canton at around 11:00am. They forgot about the time change & arrived a little late to meet the warriors for the day…. Today we were honored to be hosting Air Force Warrior Milton Young & Army SGT Brandon Klopfenstein.
Milton was nominated to us by the Paralyzed Veterans of America Buckeye Chapter. Believe it or not, Milton actually played for McKinley High School in their very first State Championship game in 1981! Unfortunately they lost that game but he clearly remembered the experience. Milton was accompanied by his cousin and caregiver Darlene Terry.
SGT Klopfenstein was nominated by his wife. He is a big Cowboys fan and was super excited for the opportunity to see them play! Brandon brought his friend Dennis as his guest.
My dad met up with the warriors just outisde of the entrance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Thanks to David Baker, the HOF president, the warriors were treated to VIP passes to the Hall of Fame.
They got to see the Busts, the Championship rings & even the Lombardi trophy as well as other priceless NFL memorabilia scattered throughout the campus.
After touring the HOF, they had a bite to eat before making their way back over to the hall of fame to watch the new HOF class arrive!
My dad saved a spot for them right up front so they had a great view to watch Jerry Jones, Ladianian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner, Terrell Davis & other Hall of Famers make their way inside. My dad captured some great pictures!
My dad swapped our tickets to get ADA seats for the warriors & ended up getting front row seats in the end zone! Needless to say, the guys were excited to watch the game from the front row!
Despite being a meaningless preseason game, the game itself was entertaining. He Cardinals jumped out to an early 15-0 lead. Eventually the Cowboys came back and ended up winning 20-18! It was a great way to end an unforgettable day in Canton!
During he game, Brandon had the humbling honor of meeting up with Medal of Honor recipient, Leroy Petry.
Operation warrior Wishes would like to thank all of our supporters for giving us the opportunity to make warrior wishes come true at the Hall of Fame game. We couldn’t make it all possible without you! We also want to send a special thank you to David Baker for providing VIP passes to tour the Hall of Fame, Mark Toppel for providing transportation & New Era for providing caps for the warriors!
TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!
Most importantly, we want to thank Army Warriors Milton Young and Brandon Klopfenstein for their service & Sacrifices to our country!
Warrior Wishes will be teaming up with Jason Correll & Vets Inc this Sunday for the Hall of Fame Concert featuring Toby Keith & Kid Rock! Stay tuned for more details.
