We walked into the stadium shortly after the gates opened and a man walked up to Brenda and asked her if she would be interested in trying to win the truck. All she had to do is throw a football through a target about 24 inches in diameter from a distance of 17 yards(we have seen this during halftimes of games). (To convince me it is somewhat probable show a video of a Lions quarterback doing it. Or some other quarterback even.)
"Sure, what do I have to lose." She then answered Mark's qualifying questions, signed the release forms, etc. One restriction is she could not have played collegiately or professionally, or coached football, baseball, softball within the last 5 years. Other questions made it evident they want a lay person participating.
We watched the first quarter from our regular seats, then met Mark at the beginning of the second quarter. He got us field passes and escorted us down to the field where we stood in the end zone to watch the second quarter. Exciting except play was at the opposite end of the field from us including two Lions fourth-and-ones and no first down, a Lions interception and fumble recovery.
At the end of the half players from both teams walked by us up the tunnel looking impressively fit, large, and serious. They looked the same when they passed us going the other way in the tunnel after halftime. But I digress.
During halftime the truck with the target was driven onto the field and Brenda was taken to her position. Her name was announced and her picture shown on the big screen. She was ready -- pumped up! She took the ball, her arm went back, she strode forward, and let it fly. The throw was in line with the target but did not travel far enough and wound up short. (Lions fans understand that--they've seen it all year!) We've seen attempts all season and hers was as good as any, better than most. She commented that the ball was hard as a rock and heavier than she thought it would be.
Quite a thrill for all of us. A different view of the game. We saw parts of the stadium we had not seen before and it's impressive. And all the staff were very nice to us--warm, funny, but also professional.
Oh, yeah. The Lions lost again preserving their perfect record. They seemed to have a chance against the Vikings, but gave up a late score, got closer with a field goal, but could not stop Minnesota from running out the clock, giving up several first downs on third-and-long.
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