WILMINGTON — Sometimes achieving your dreams takes an unexpected approach.
Jen Hosler, a 1992 graduate of Wilmington High School with strong community connections, is getting the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to the Super Bowl this year.
Hosler — a registered nurse at Cincinnati VA Medical Center — and her friend and co-worker Krissel Moore will be among the 7,500 front-line medical workers at Super Bowl LV this Sunday.
In January, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced he would invite 7,500 vaccinated health care workers to Super Bowl LV as guests to thank and honor them for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Football has always been a part of Hosler’s life. It was something that she and her dad, John Hosler, always shared. She loves football so much she is a regular season ticket holder for the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I’ve wanted to go since I was in the second grade, and I remember when the Bengals went to Pontiac, Michigan for the Super Bowl (1981),” said Hosler.
She also recalled when the Bengals used to hold their annual preseason training camp at Wilmington College (up until 1996, when it was moved to Georgetown, Ky.).
So when she heard NFL Commissioner Goodell was going send vaccinated health care workers to the Super Bowl she decided to give it a shot.
“I thought, ‘What the heck, it can’t hurt (to try),’” she said.
Two weeks later, she received an email saying she was going to the Super Bowl.
“I was initially shocked and thought, ‘Is this real?’” she asked. “I’m still dumbfounded.”
She’s looking forward to the whole experience, especially since she never thought she’d make it.
“I don’t know how else I ever could have made it, especially since tickets cost $8,000 this year,” she said. “The best part is people have been messaging saying, ‘You deserve it.’
“It makes me happy.”
