Re: Quite an honor!
So............ How was it? What happened?
A group of us were given red jerseys and lined up according to number. Bob Kraft strolled up and shook everyone's hand. Then we ran through the inflated-helmet tunnel to the Pats' sideline, where we lined up again. Each jersey was autographed; I had No. 86 (rookie tight end Carson Butler -- I tried to swap with the guy ahead of me who had Ocho's 85, but he understandably declined). The Pats came out (the official team introduction) and walked along the line giving us high-fives, shaking hands, etc. It was kind of surreal. I high-fived Ivan Fears, Pepper Johnson, and a bunch of players including Welker and Brady. Tom was pretty nice. He seemed into it walking over and saying, "Hey guys -- how are ya?" BB walked by and I said "Hey, coach!" He had his game face on; didn't come over to us or say much, just mumbled a "hi there" and kept going. We moved to the north end zone where we lined up again for the national anthem and watched the flyover. Then we left the field.
The crazy part for me was before all the above happened. I was one of three people chosen for the fan field-goal kick from 20 yards out. No warning, just "You -- come with us, this is for another promotion." Running through my mind were the hundreds of times I've sat in the stands laughing at people making fools of themselves trying to kick the ball through the uprights off a tee. So it was me, a woman and an older guy. We were on the jumbotron, cameras going off, etc. I volunteered to go first because nobody else did. The really stupid part of this for me is that I HAVE booted field goals off a tee just screwin' around -- about 35 years ago. I knew what to do kicking straight-on conventional style, which is keep your head down, hit the ball low and follow through. All I had to do was get under the ball and get it airborne. So, I proceeded to knock a line-drive that hit the padded support stanchion dead-center, about 3 feet off the ground. And of course, the P.A. announcer always chimes in with a clever remark. On my attempt he said, "I don't know what you'd call that!"
That's karma coming back to bite me for laughing at others' kicking follies. (I will note that neither of the other two got their kicks airborne.) But I've been trying to soothe my still-stinging humiliation by telling myself I would have made it given just ONE practice kick! The promotion is sponsored by Ocean Spray, which makes a $500 donation to charity for each successful kick.
I'll try to post some photos when my buddy sends them over.
