My Super Bowl Dream Came True

I’m just 17 years old, but last week I experienced the trip of a lifetime. I was picked from among 4 million other Boys & Girls Clubs kids to get an amazing trip to the Super Bowl and behind the scenes with NBC Sports Group.

My dad and my Club director, Adam Ortiz, came along, too. Thanks to Comcast NBCUniversal, we spent the days leading up to the big game learning about all the technology needed to broadcast the Super Bowl. I got to be interviewed by the media, and checked out the NBC busses, Feherty Live on the Golf Channel, NHL Live and also met Al Roker while standing on the set of TODAY. I even got to touch the same grass the players did, and see the locker rooms, during our backstage tour of University of Phoenix Stadium, which is managed by Comcast’s Global Spectrum.

All of this gave me a different perspective about TV shows and sporting events. I learned that each Super Bowl takes two years to plan. I thought TV was easy and was just a camera and a person talking. But I learned there are not only many cameras, but also production, sound, lighting, digital-effects technicians and editing people whose jobs are to get what the producers need to do the show.

When I got home after the game, I told my friends how fancy the NFL Honors was – and how I met Larry Fitzgerald, Deion Sanders, Troy Aikman, Odell Beckham Jr., Calais Campbell, Bruce Arians, Colin Kaepernick, Michael Irvin, and Luke Kuechly. For real. I didn't expect all the stars to be walking around like real people, but they mingled with everyone else eating and drinking. I was able to take pictures and talk with them.

My favorite part of the trip was being in my home team’s stadium. I also really liked watching so many things happen at once during the Super Bowl itself – especially watching the jets fly overhead after the roof opened.

All of that was an unexpected opportunity that most people do not get to experience, and one I know I probably won’t get to do again. I felt like I was treated like a celebrity. Thank you Comcast NBCUniversal!

This article first appeared on Comcast Voices, a place for conversations with Comcast. Read more blogs about our impact in the community here.