108-year old WWII vet is going to the Super Bowl thanks to Saints star
The New Orleans Saints will not be playing in Super Bowl LII on Sunday, but Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan may have already locked up the MVP honors.
Well, at the very least, the MVP honors of the Brooks family.
That’s because 108-year old World War II veteran and Saints fan Lawrence Brooks received a pair of tickets to the Super Bowl courtesy of Jordan, and his reaction was priceless.
Brooks, who looks positively youthful for a someone his age, was clearly elated to be heading to Minneapolis, despite his favorite team not playing.
The two shared a moment via a Facetime call, and both Jordan and Brooks seemed appreciative of each other.
“I just thought I’d say thank you for everything you do, your military service back in your younger days. I appreciate everything you do,” Jordan said to Brooks.
“I appreciate everything you do, too. And I want you keep it up, yeah?” Brooks told Jordan.
Jordan was the Saints’ nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Jordan has helped with extensive work in the New Orleans area.
Jordan also apologized for the Saints not making it to the Super Bowl this year. He did, however, allude to another run at the Super Bowl next year.
Brooks will be 109 by the start of next season.
In fairness to the Saints, it took a miracle touchdown heave and one of the worst missed tackles in NFL playoff history for the Minnesota Vikings to beat them in the NFC divisional round.
Assuming quarterback Drew Brees returns and none of the Saints’ prized rookies hit a sophomore slump, there’s no reason to think New Orleans won’t be back in the thick of things next year.
Brooks served in the 91st Engineer Battalion during World War II, per WGNO-TV. He was stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines.
“We built the bridges, the roads and the airstrips the planes landed on,” Brooks told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 2016.
At the time, the Army was segregated, and Brooks was an orderly assigned to three officers. Some of Brooks’ daily tasks included shining the officers’ shoes and cleaning their uniforms.
Brooks eventually attained the rank of Private 1st Class over the course of the war.
When he was 95, Brooks also had to deal with Hurricane Katrina, wherein which he and his late wife had to be rescued from the roof of their home via helicopter.
Brooks has five children and five more stepchildren.
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