NFL Steps In After 2 Women Who Lost Super Bowl Tickets Appear On CBS 2
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NFL came to the rescue Friday evening, after two women told CBS 2 on the air that they had lost their wallet – and their Super Bowl XLVIII tickets -- to thieves while making the trip from Seattle to New York.
Nicole Hill and Sarah Agerup, of Seattle, appeared at 5:19 p.m. with CBS 2's Lonnie Quinn. Hill was carrying a cardboard sign explaining that her wallet had been stolen at San Francisco International Airport en route from Seattle to New York.
The pair did not come to New York together, but Hill had both tickets and both were lost.
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But, the sign continued, "Still made it to NYC. Go Hawks!!!" Hill said she used a spare passport in her suitcase to get to the city.
"I had a wonderful New Yorker who drove me from the airport to my hotel last night," Hill said. "You guys are great people."
It turned out that driver was not the only one who stepped in to assist with Hill and Agerup's plight.
It just so happened that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was watching the CBS 2 News Friday evening, and NFL officials contacted the CBS 2 newsroom to offer the women some new tickets, CBS 2's Jessica Schneider reported.
At 6:17 p.m., Quinn rejoined Hill and Agerup, as Hill spoke on her cellphone with the NFL – with an offer of replacement tickets.
"It has been a long 24 hours, I can admit to that, but we're here in New York, and apparently my friend is crying about something good, so I think our luck may be changing," Hill told the NFL representative over the phone. She then got the news that new tickets would be coming.
The women were crying tears of joy as a crowd cheered with Quinn.
When asked what she thought of New Yorkers, Hill said, "I don't ever want to leave."
The call was bittersweet for Agerup, whose father was a trainer for the Seahawks in the early 1990s. Both of her parents were killed by a drunken driver years later, Schneider reported.
Now, she'll watch the team that first brought her mom and dad together on a blind date, in the Super Bowl.
And that wasn't the only magical moment of Super Bowl week in New York City. Just down the block awaited a surprise for 11-year-old Seth Patsakos.
Patsakos and his mom came to Manhattan for what he thought was a follow-up interview to a report he was featured in on Monday night by CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez.
Patsakos has hemophilia, loves football and the Denver Broncos. He was presented with an authentic championship football signed by the entire team, delivered to his Staten Island home.
But what he had delivered on 52nd Street from CBS 2 viewer Al Zapata on Friday was something he never expected.
"My team the Giants not in it, I thought what a better gift, then to see you guys go to the Super Bowl this year," Zapata said. "So I got tickets for your dad and you. You're going to the Super Bowl."
Patsakos was stunned and overjoyed by the news. "Get out of here! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!"
Patsakos and his dad will be sitting in the end zone, 13 rows up where they'll be able to see the Broncos take the field.
As for Nicole Hill and Sarah Agerup, they will be in Times Square on Saturday to pick up their tickets directly from the NFL.
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