The man who luckily caught the football tossed into the crowd by Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse after he scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the NFC Championship Game sure could have used a positive development in his life, and he undoubtedly received it.
Scott Shelton, seated in the end zone seats, obviously was well beyond ecstatic when Kearse hauled in the 35-yard touchdown pass to punch the Seahawks’ second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl. And it got only better for him when Kearse heaved the ball into the crowd and he ended up in possession of the prized piece of pigskin.
Shelton, an unemployed father of two, says he has been offered upwards of $20,000 by a sports memorabilia dealer for the football. But he insists that after he was contacted personally Monday morning by Kearse himself, he has no plans to part with the ball unless he gives it to the wide receiver who joyfully tossed the ball into the stands in the first place.
“My phone rings, and it was Jermaine! Jermaine Kearse, you know? The Man!” Shelton told Seattle’s KOMO-4 TV. “We were just talking about the game. He told me he wanted to trade his game helmet signed by the team and his jersey, for the ball. And then he asked me what (else) I wanted for the ball. And I said ‘honestly, it would be nice to go see you guys whip New England in the Super Bowl.’ So he’s going to see what he can do about that. But I told him I wouldn’t give it up unless it was going to him. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have it.”
If Shelton does somehow manage to make the trip to Arizona to watch his favorite NFL team try to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles, the 32-year-old from Monroe, Wash., will have to hurry back to the Pacific Northwest as he is set to begin serving several months in jail the day immediately following the Big Game.
But for now, Shelton simply is reveling in the moment and enjoying a small something that shed some light into an otherwise dark time in his life.
“Everyone’s going crazy. I can’t believe I got this ball!” said Shelton, before describing the momentous moment. “Wilson drops back. Throws a strike to Kearse.
Pulls down the game-winning catch. He got up and chucked it into the stands. And it bounced about four times. And right into my lap. Just right into my chest. Like, just, boom! Just like that. And I jumped up into the seat and just screaming! It was just amazing! Amazing feeling! We just won the game. I got this thrown to me, by Kearse. It was, it was like a dream come true. It still is. I haven’t woke up yet, you know.”
Scott Shelton, seated in the end zone seats, obviously was well beyond ecstatic when Kearse hauled in the 35-yard touchdown pass to punch the Seahawks’ second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl. And it got only better for him when Kearse heaved the ball into the crowd and he ended up in possession of the prized piece of pigskin.
Shelton, an unemployed father of two, says he has been offered upwards of $20,000 by a sports memorabilia dealer for the football. But he insists that after he was contacted personally Monday morning by Kearse himself, he has no plans to part with the ball unless he gives it to the wide receiver who joyfully tossed the ball into the stands in the first place.
“My phone rings, and it was Jermaine! Jermaine Kearse, you know? The Man!” Shelton told Seattle’s KOMO-4 TV. “We were just talking about the game. He told me he wanted to trade his game helmet signed by the team and his jersey, for the ball. And then he asked me what (else) I wanted for the ball. And I said ‘honestly, it would be nice to go see you guys whip New England in the Super Bowl.’ So he’s going to see what he can do about that. But I told him I wouldn’t give it up unless it was going to him. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have it.”
If Shelton does somehow manage to make the trip to Arizona to watch his favorite NFL team try to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles, the 32-year-old from Monroe, Wash., will have to hurry back to the Pacific Northwest as he is set to begin serving several months in jail the day immediately following the Big Game.
But for now, Shelton simply is reveling in the moment and enjoying a small something that shed some light into an otherwise dark time in his life.
“Everyone’s going crazy. I can’t believe I got this ball!” said Shelton, before describing the momentous moment. “Wilson drops back. Throws a strike to Kearse.
Pulls down the game-winning catch. He got up and chucked it into the stands. And it bounced about four times. And right into my lap. Just right into my chest. Like, just, boom! Just like that. And I jumped up into the seat and just screaming! It was just amazing! Amazing feeling! We just won the game. I got this thrown to me, by Kearse. It was, it was like a dream come true. It still is. I haven’t woke up yet, you know.”
