Two Irish lads snuck in to watch the Super Bowl - in $50k seats
By Grainne McGuinness
Meet Richard Whelan and Paul McEvoy, the two Irish lads who snuck into the Super Bowl and ended up watching from the fourth row - in seats that cost $25,000 .
Pictured are #Cahir 's Paul McEvoy & #Dublin 's Richard Whelan.They snuck into the #Superbowl http://t.co/y7sgDt8K13 pic.twitter.com/WCKfWzx9Js
— Cahir News (@CahirNews) February 2, 2015
Whelan is a huge Seattle Seahawks fan and after watching them win the Super Bowl last year, in a paid-for seat, he was determined to be there to watch them go for two victories in a row.
He had bought his ticket in the run-up to the game last year and so he and McEvoy flew to Arizona in the hope of getting seats at the last minute.
They had no luck with the cheapest ticket they were offered costing $8000 each. They resigned themselves to watching the game from a bar, but at the last minute decided to go out to the stadium and see what they could do.
Wrong mascot but sure listen pic.twitter.com/TzbA9z5FXV
— richiewhelan (@richiewhelan) February 2, 2015
Whelan told Newstalk Breakfast what happened next.
“We went up to two security guards and just asked them , ‘Guys,what’s the best way to sneak in?’,” he said.
“They thought it was funny, they had no stadium access either so they said, ‘try that second tent on the left, there’s only one girl working there and security’s not really tight’.”
The two lads strolled in and walked straight past the first security check, with no questions asked, but still had to face the second layer of security.
Whelan described the next stage: “We hid behind these first aid workers, there was a big group of them, maybe 20 people. When they were getting checked we just saw an opening. There was another security guard but he was on his phone and seemed a bit lax. We just went straight through the door and he never even asked us for a ticket.
“Next thing we knew we could see the field and the noise was insane and that’s when we actually knew we were in.”
I fu**ing made it!! Snook in straight through the front door! NOW LET'S GO HAWKS! #SuperbowlXLIX http://t.co/1xQj0bJLeC
— richiewhelan (@richiewhelan) February 1, 2015
In an even more incredible stroke of luck the two lads were told at half-time about prime seats that would be free for the second half.
“We were talking to one guy,” Whelan explained. “He told us that the girls that were sitting beside him were doing something for the half-time show and weren’t going to be back for the second half.”
Just give it to Marshawn 😢 pic.twitter.com/oftGLWaM1u
— richiewhelan (@richiewhelan) February 2, 2015
Whelan said he intends to be there again next year.
“I don’t think now, after being there two years in a row, I could miss it,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
“As long as I don’t have to pay $8000 for the tickets!”
You can listen to the full interview on Newstalk Breakfast here.
