Eric Mitchell is 50 years old and has been a Jacksonville Jaguars fan since the team’s inception back in 1995. He’s been to many games in Duval and is as excited as anyone to see this long downtrodden franchise play in the AFC Championship Game this coming weekend.
Mitchell was also diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer recently and given four months to live by his doctors. On the outside, most of us can’t even begin to understand what Mitchell and his family are going through.
It won’t change his diagnoses. But this gesture from the Jaguars themselves might give Eric some happiness as he battles this dreadful disease.
According to a local ABC News Radio affiliate in Jacksonville, the Jaguars have gifted Mitchell tickets to Sunday’s AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium.
“His dream is to see the Jags play in the Super Bowl — but in the meantime the team is giving him tickets to next best thing: the AFC Championship game this Sunday,” the report noted. “Friends helped his dream come true by raising funds for a hotel and a plane ticket to the big game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
When the newscaster told him that he was given tickets to the championship game, Mitchell was all sorts of excited. Highly emotional, too.
He also talked about his life-altering diagnosis.
“God has blessed me from day one. They’ve given me two-to-three months of life,” Mitchell said.
Sometimes, we see a story that shows us life is so much more important than sports itself. And as the sports world prepares for Championship Sunday, this is a reminder.
Let’s all hope Eric has the time of his life at Gillette on Sunday.