Key Takeaways
- The Payoff: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell surprised Rockford Park District GM Lamont Jones with two tickets to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
- The Legacy: Jones has spent 24 years building youth flag football, launching one of the state’s first high school leagues for girls.
- The Setting: The surprise happened on the Soldier Field sideline just before the Bears’ wild 31-27 comeback win over Green Bay.
CHICAGO — Lamont Jones thought he was at Soldier Field just to watch his kids play. Roger Goodell had other plans.
Jones, the General Manager of the Rockford Park District, stood on the sidelines Saturday night, expecting nothing more than to see his local flag football teams scrimmage at halftime. Instead, amid the freezing snow and the roar of a playoff crowd, the NFL Commissioner walked up and handed him the ultimate thank-you: two tickets to Super Bowl LX.
For nearly a quarter-century, Jones hasn’t just managed parks; he has built a football ecosystem from scratch. His work turned a small program into a regional powerhouse that now feeds the Olympic pipeline for girls’ flag football.
“I Can’t Even Fathom It”
The moment, captured on the stadium’s jumbotron, showed a stunned Jones processing the gift while Goodell shook his hand. The surprise was set up by Bears Director of Football Development Gustavo Silva, who lured Jones onto the field under the pretense of a simple meet-and-greet.
Jones, who had been planning to watch the Super Bowl on TV with friends, was visibly shaken.
“I can’t even fathom it,” Jones said after the exchange. “I don’t even know if I’m gonna call my wife until I get back on the bus… But now we’re actually gonna be going to the Super Bowl.”
The only thing that could make the trip to Santa Clara sweeter? If his Bears are the ones running out of the tunnel.
“The only thing that can make this even more special is if my favorite team can go along with me,” Jones added.
More Than Just a Game
This wasn’t a random lottery win. Jones earned every yard of that trip to California. Since 2003, he has worked with NFL FLAG to provide access for kids who might otherwise never touch a football.
His impact is tangible in the numbers:
- Growth: Started with 163 kids; now serves hundreds annually.
- Girls Flag Football: Helped launch the high school girls’ program in Rockford in 2022, the second league of its kind in the state.
- Facility: Secured a $50,000 donation from the Bears to launch a middle school league and $7.6 million for the Clarence Hicks Sports Complex upgrade.
Goodell made it clear that the tickets were a receipt for decades of grind.
“We always want to honor our fans, but Lamont is much more than a fan,” Goodell said. “He’s making a difference in our communities… giving them a future is incredible.”
The Night Gets Better
Jones didn’t just leave with tickets; he left with a memory that will likely outshine the Super Bowl itself. Moments after the surprise, he watched two 14U boys teams and two middle school girls teams from Rockford take over the Soldier Field turf at halftime.
And then, the cherry on top: he watched the Bears erase a deficit to beat the Packers 31-27, sending Chicago to the Divisional Round.
Jones has spent 24 years giving kids a stage. On Saturday, the NFL finally gave him his own.
