Area veteran who attended the Super Bowl shares his 'once in a lifetime' experience

He was one of eight veterans selected to attend the game through a partnership between USAA and other veteran service organizations.

“It was crazy, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a bucket list item,” he said.

He brought his wife, Stacy Greathouse, as his guest.

“She’s a bandwagoner, she was a Green Bay fan and then she liked the Chiefs, and then the Chiefs beat my Bengals, then it was a competition so I picked the Eagles,” he said.

She wore a Chiefs jersey and waved a Chiefs towel, he wore a Bengals jersey and waved an Eagles towel.

Aside from the game, they also got to attend a VIP tailgate where the Black Keys performed in concert and they meet several players.

“He was super humble, super down to earth,” Greathouse said about Etienne, the player who selected him.

The men did a Fox News interview together and shared a good conversation.

“He was just like a regular dude, super nice having a conversation, and wasn’t in a rush. He said I inspired him with my story, like when he got injured and it was his career on the line, so he had to really take it all in and be in the moment and recover so we kind of shared stories and stuff, it was really neat. We kind of connected on the level, and that made it even more special,” he said.

While heading to their hotel, they also met actor Paul Rudd.

“I told my wife, ‘Hey, that’s Ant-Man,’” he said.

He introduced himself to Rudd and politely asked if they could take a photo together.

“Yeah, Paul Rudd he was a super nice guy, I mean he didn’t have to do that (take a picture) but he went ahead and did it and we talked for just a little bit,” he said.

For Greathouse, the Super Bowl was always something you watch on TV at a party with friends. He didn’t think attending America’s biggest football game of the year was something he’d ever be able to do and said he’s grateful for the experience.

“It was truly an honor, I feel like somebody better than me deserved it, but I wasn’t going to turn it down,” he said. “It was awesome, I’m still smiling, my face hurts.”