Jon Cossey just bought a brand new 70-inch TV for the Super Bowl party he was going to host at his Sunnyvale home but on Wednesday, he got an email that changed all that. "I saw this email and it said call my cell phone number, you know, I'm the marketing person for the Niners. Congratulations, you won. It was a very simple note," he recalled.
Jon won an all-expenses-paid whirlwind trip for two to the Super Bowl plus a signed Colin Kaepernick jersey. He and his wife Jen will fly to New Orleans early Sunday morning, watch the big game, and fly home that night. Their 1 and 3-year-old daughters will stay behind with grandma and watch for mom and dad on that new TV. "We don't get to go out by ourselves very often. So, I get to sit on a plane without two kids," Jen said.
Their excitement is building with each passing moment, the closer they get to Sunday. But with the trip of a lifetime comes a tale of loss. Within ten minutes of finding out Jon had won the Super Bowl Sweepstakes, Jen learned her grandfather lost his battle with cancer. Grandpa Peter was a 49er faithful and lifelong season ticket holder.
"But that's what my grandfather would have wanted and he was a huge Niner fan. So is my grandmother. So, she's just like, 'I'm going to look for you on TV,'" Jen said. Jon says he knows two things for sure -- Grandpa will be with them in spirit at the Superdome and the Niners will come away victorious in their Quest for Six. "We'll let them have one at the end. So, we'll make it 34 – 17," he said.
