Some Packers fans went to great lengths to meet Aaron Rodgers as he exchanged his autograph for donations to the Salvation Army at Lambeau Field Monday night.
One couple from New Jersey flew in to surprise their son with the experience, but almost missed the entire meet and greet.
“We got on a plane, we bought the tickets Friday night and yesterday we were on our way,” said Melissa Sewer, who was with her fiancé and son.
They didn’t even tell her little boy Emmanuel who he was meeting until Monday morning.
But what they did not expect was how early people would start lining up.
They showed up and were number 201 - for an event with a maximum of 200 guests. Sewer and her family thought they would be going home empty-handed after flying all this way - but that was when the man in front of them did something incredible.
“He turned around and gave us the last ticket,” Sewer said.
They say the man drove the three hours back to Eau Claire empty-handed. But he gave a little boy his Christmas wish: A chance to hug his hero and get a picture with Aaron.
“It was my wish and it finally came true,” said Emmanuel Gonzales.
People were set up in chairs in the Lambeau Field atrium prepared for a long wait see Rodgers.
“Twenty-two hours, got here at 8 o’clock last night,“ said A.J. Grill, from Green Bay.
“I got here from Chicago, I got in town at about 1:45 a.m.,” said Larry Raehl, a life-long Packer fan.
“I just met Aaron Rodgers and he signed this helmet,” said a crying Melissa Anderson, who drove in from Indiana.
The Salvation Army raised more than $22,000 which Rodgers plans to match.
Donations to the Salvation Army have been down this year. The Milwaukee red kettle campaign typically brings in about $500,000, but leaders say it’s about $40,000 short of that goal.
