Lexington man and Army buddy headed to Super Bowl 50
It’s finally beginning to sink in for David Kerr and Philip Hunter that they are headed to California for Super Bowl 50. Both South Carolina men have had a hard time digesting the reality of the situation since Kerr won the trip through USAA’s Salute to Service program.
“It’s just one of those things you never believe,” Kerr said. “It’s surreal.”
Kerr entered the contest on a whim earlier this year when he saw the entry form pop up on his computer as he checked his bank account with USAA, which provides banking and insurance services for current and former military members, and then he forgot that he entered.
“I found out I’d won about a month ago,” said Kerr, a 45-year-old Lexington man who works for Lexington County. “My wife was checking our email account, and I saw ‘Salute To Service,’ and I said, ‘Stop there, go back and click on that.’ I couldn’t believe it. I sat and read it five times.”
Hunter, who had no idea Kerr had even entered on his behalf, had the same reaction.
“I was floored, especially when I found out how we’d won,” said Hunter, a 39-year-old who works in law enforcement and serves in the Army reserves in Newberry County. “It probably took two hours or so after we initially got off the phone for it to sink in. It just kept getting better and better. I was like, ‘This is actually going to happen. I can’t believe it.’ ”
The Salute To Service program asked military and former military members to nominate a worthy fellow service person in order to win the trip. Kerry and Hunter served together in Iraq in 2006 as support for the country’s national police force in Baghdad. Both were awarded purple hearts after suffering concussive injuries when their transport collided with an IED.
“I never let (Hunter) know until we won,” Kerr said. “It was great. I called him and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ He didn’t.”
Both winners get to take a guest on the trip. Kerr is taking his son Ryan, a 15-year-old Lexington High School student, and Hunter is taking wife Vikki. The quartet will fly out Friday night and attend NFL events on Saturday afternoon and evening before attending the game Sunday. The pair also got to speak with Naval Academy graduate and five-time Super Bowl participant Roger Staubach during a conference call to discuss details of the trip.
The timing of Kerr’s and Hunter’s trip would seem perfect given that the Carolina Panthers will be in the game, playing against the Denver Broncos in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., but neither man is a diehard Panthers fan.
Hunter, a Newberry County native, will cheer for the Panthers, but Kerr, a Maryland native, is cheering for the Broncos and quarterback Peyton Manning.
“This year, I’m more of a Denver Broncos fan because I want to see Peyton Manning go out on top,” Kerr said. “I just think he’s a class act when it comes to NFL quarterbacks. I like seeing classy quarterbacks go out on top.”