A Super Bowl disaster was averted for two Seattle Seahawks fans.
Nicole Hill and Sarah Agerup, of Seattle, told WCBS-TV on Friday that they had their Super Bowl tickets stolen when Hill's wallet was pilfered at the San Francisco International Airport, while she was en route to the Big Apple.
Hill was holding a sign explaining her situation when CBS's Lonnie Quinn pulled her from the crowd during the station's live broadcast. Hill said she used a spare passport to get to New York and got a lift from a Good Samaritan.
"I had a wonderful New Yorker who drove me from the airport to my hotel last night," Hill said. "You guys are great people."
As it turned out, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell happened to be watching the CBS broadcast and asked league officials if they could track down the duo and replace their lost tickets.
CBS cameras showed Agerup and Hill tearing up as the NFL offered to replace their tickets.
"It has been a long 24 hours, I can admit to that, but we're here in New York, and apparently my friend is crying about something good, so I think our luck may be changing," Hill said to an NFL representative over the phone.
An NFL spokesman confirmed to Around The League that Goodell met the two women Saturday morning on Super Bowl Boulevard to give them tickets to Sunday's game as well as the tailgate party. The women also will walk the red carpet and attend tonight's NFL Honors show at Radio City Music Hall.
For Agerup, the opportunity to watch her Seahawks in the Super Bowl is bittersweet. Her parents met on a blind date at a Seahawks game in 1991 -- Agerup's father, Brad, had been a trainer for the team in the late '80s. Sadly, a drunk driver killed both her parents in 2009.
Both Agerup and Hill, self-proclaimed lifelong Seahawks fans, had their story transformed from Super Bowl disaster to Super Bowl fairy tale.
*Live from New York, it's the NFL "Around The League Podcast" Super Bowl Preview! *
