ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — While most of us spent Super Bowl Sunday from the sidelines of our couches, two New Mexicans checked off a bucket list item.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” David Rodriguez said. “It’s one of those things that you have to take advantage of when you can when your team is in the game.”
David Rodriguez has been a Seattle Seahawks fan for over a decade, his wife, Ashley Rodriguez, said she’s a fan by marriage.
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“Oh, gosh,” Ashley said. “Quite a bit. A lot of deal making, for sure, and a lot of convincing,” David continued.
That convincing, had a lot to do with the price tag. The couple said they were watching tickets go up and down.
“Two days before the game. We were back and forth on it, and then we’re just like, You know what? This, this may never happen again,” Ashley said.
But the big question is how much did they shell out for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
“We paid just north of $4,000 each for tickets,” David said.
And that’s considered cheap, especially for where they were. But with the Seahawks winning 29-13, they said it was worth it. David says it wasn’t just about the game and halftime show.
“They had a cable car for San Francisco. There you could pose for pictures. They had the Lombardi trophy that you could take a picture with, along with a lot of the Super Bowl rings from previous winners,” he said.
The New Mexico natives were not only excited to go, but also excited to represent our state and brought a Zia flag to show off.
“We displayed it proudly. We’re very excited and happy to represent New Mexico,” Ashley said.
They weren’t the only ones representing either, six New Mexicans are part of the Seahawks. Including linebacker Connor O’Toole, who walked the same halls Ashley did as a kid: La Cueva High School.
“It really hits home, and it makes you really see that if you work hard, you really can do anything. And so for our kids to be in a school where those athletes recently just graduated, I feel like it, it’s very inspiring,” she said.
The Rodriguezes says this win was especially cathartic. It was the team’s redemption win after a close loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
