Delaware man wins Packers' Ticket Takeover contest
GREEN BAY – A photo of Ryan Messatzzia of Delmar, Del. and his 1-year-old son, Miles, will be on tickets for the Green Bay Packers' Fan Appreciation game in December.
Messatzzia is this year's winner of the Packers' Ticket Takeover Contest.
In the photo, Messatzzia is dressed in a Tony Canadeo jersey holding Miles, dressed as a football, during Halloween 2016.
In addition to having his photo adorn 80,000 tickets for the game against the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 23, Messatzzia will receive tickets to the game, hotel and travel accommodations.
His photo was chosen by a vote of Packers fans from five finalists selected from thousands of entries. More than 50,000 people voted.
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"Miles is my hero. He is the most resilient person I know," Messatzzia said. "He was hospitalized twice during the first three months of his life, the second being for respiratory failure. We almost lost him, but he has bounced back like a champ."
Messatzzia said he'd watch movies and TV with Miles to ease the stress, and afterwards would dress his son as one of the characters.
"I found out he was very tolerant of my shenanigans," he said. "It seemed a natural fit that he would be my 'football' to hold for our Halloween trek around our community."
Other finalists were Molly Schlinger of White Plains, N.Y.; Jade Perry of Dawsonville, Ga.; Annette Travis of Norco, Calif.; and Brooke Taylor of Superior.
Voters were automatically registered to win a signed Packers jersey each time they voted. The winner was Lisa Liebgott of Roscoe, Ill.
