Bride loses bet, so husband gets to wear his favorite NFL jersey while saying 'I do'
Vince Lombardi used to rally his football team by telling them to “think of only three things: your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers.”
Lombardi’s spirit was alive and well at a Philadelphia wedding last week; only the football team changed.
While he and his wife exchanged vows, Patrick Hanks was bedecked in a jersey of his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Hanks got to wear the jersey while saying “I do” because his new wife, Jennifer Sullivan, lost a bet last fall.
She wagered that the Eagles would not win Super Bowl LII.
Hanks’ friend Keith Wiest was the one who actually made the bet with Sullivan. If he won, his friend would get to wear the Eagles jersey at the altar.
If the Eagles did not win, Wiest would be forced to watch every episode of every version of the “Real Housewives” reality television franchise.
Which, in terms of taking one for the team, elevates the term “best man” to a whole new level.
The wedding officiant was in on the joke, even going so far as to explain the bet to the audience. She then motioned to Hanks, saying, “Patrick, I think you have an obligation to fulfill.”
Hanks then stripped off his jacket, reached into a nearby bush, retrieved a Carson Wentz jersey and donned it before saying “I do.”
Sullivan sighed loudly, either genuinely wondering how she got roped into this or doing a sell so convincing that she should immediately be offered a job in professional wrestling.
“It was just an absolutely amazing experience,” the newly-minted Mrs. Hanks told the New York Post afterward. “We wouldn’t have done something like this if it wasn’t going to be well-received by everyone.”
The bet was made in October, and according to Hanks, it “took over and had a life of its own” as the Eagles kept winning, storming through the playoffs and then finally shocking the New England Patriots 41-33 in the big game.
The missus said her phone went absolutely crazy after the Eagles won.
“Everyone was texting me — my parents, my boss,” she said.
And while this all had a happy ending both in sporting glory and in wedded bliss, let us not forget the true hero of this tale.
Keith Wiest, you are off the hook. Consider yourself fortunate.
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