First NFL Game for me
Went to my first Vikings game. It was a pretty good matchup as well it was the Vikings Chiefs and it was a beautiful day outside. I was lucky enough to go with my whole family, my in-laws as well as one of my wife's sisters and her husband. Eight in total and we somehow managed to find eight seats in a row that had a spectacular view.
My wife made sure that six out of the eight of us all had Vikings gear to where, we all had shirts or sweatshirts on to support the team, while my sister-in-law and husband were wearing chiefs gear but that's okay since they are from Kansas City.
US Bank Stadium
We got to US Bank stadium about 3 hours or more before the game. We rode the light rail from the Mall of America up to the stadium and got out. It was pretty packed already considering how early it was, but they did have a live music concert as well as about a dozen food trucks and other activities. They had Giant connect four and cornhole to play everyone was having a relaxed and fun time.
Vikings Ship
I'm pretty sweet Viking ship on the outside, we all walked inside and got a nice picture of it. It's a pretty cool attraction.
We also all went and stood in front of the #SKOL sign for pictures. As we stood around trying to figure out what we're going to do for a couple of hours, get some food or drinks, check out the concert someone randomly approached us.
She said she had been looking for a family of four for about 10 minutes and was struggling to find one wearing all Vikings gear. Most of the fans there were split between Chiefs and Vikings as so many kids are fans of Kelsey and mahomes. She offered us Early Access if we helped quote open the doors. We agreed and had no idea what we're going to be doing.
Once in a lifetime chance - We helped open the gates
We actually got to walk right through the security gates, and up to this button. The kids got to push the button and they opened these gigantic doors. I actually didn't even understand that these Gates opened as you can see in the picture below they don't really look like doors until you see the seamss.
Those are some absolutely massive doors, they opened barely slowly but to me it was more impressive that they were able to open at all. They mentioned this was probably one of the last games where they were going to open these massive doors as it was unlikely the weather would be good enough to do at other home games. So we were ridiculously lucky to be randomly chosen. I owe it all to my wife who got us Vikings gear otherwise it never would have happened
Early Access to the Stadium
As a special privilege of opening the gates, we were given early access to the stadium before anyone else was in. We were able to walk all the way down to the front row and watch the players stretch and warm up. It was kind of surreal to be walking around with all of the workers waiting for people to start coming in and to see a almost completely empty Stadium
The Drum
This is the drum that they beat after we score a touchdown, it's pretty sweet and fun to watch. The thing is massive and the sound really carries.
Empty Stadium
To me it was bonkers to be walking around knowing that this stadium was going to be packed but to see it this empty.
Could Walk Anywhere
We walked all the way down to the first row of seats and the lower level to get as close to the field as possible. This allowed us the ability to watch players warm up and get close to the field.
We were the only ones, this is just wild. We all stood around completely shocked that we had been chosen and that this was happening to us. We felt so fortunate to have it happen, we couldn't believe we were so lucky
Players Warming Up
There's Patrick mahomes warming up, I got a couple of pictures but at the same time felt kind of weird taking pictures when they're just trying to warm up. We know we're one of the few people in, and they're used to their picture being taken but at the same time it felt intrusive. I know if I was trying to warm up I wouldn't want somebody staring at me taking photos the whole time.
Field Passes are awesome!!
As part of the gift package we got for helping quote open the gates they gave us a field passes. The past is allowed you to walk down onto the field and be right next to the players behind the rope while they warmed up. This is something that you can't even really buy, you have to either get the passes from someone on the team or I think maybe you get them if you buy a luxury box or other ridiculously expensive tickets. I tried to look online to see if you could buy field passes but I couldn't find any information on how to buy them. There were quite a few people down there so they must be available somehow but I couldn't figure it out. Either way I kept telling my kids that this will never happen again in their life and that for their first NFL game this was an absolutely wild experience.
Seats were great - perfect to see the plays develop
We had absolutely great seats. I wasn't sure I would like the view from the upper level and kind of behind the end zone. But in all honesty I really liked watching it from here as I felt like I could watch the play develop and I was able to see the left to right action much better. I could see the holes open up for the running backs for the receivers and could feel like I knew what was going to happen. I actually think these were some of the best seats and I would gladly go back.
Wish I heard this more... just a few more scores!
On the way out we waited for everyone else to leave, we knew the light rail was going to get slammed and we knew it was going to take a long time to get on and get back to the hotel. To avoid some of the congestion we sat around and just soaked in our experience and then we walked down to find the horn that they play. It's the one you can hear on the TV and it's pretty cool. This was the best angle we could find to take a picture.
Rode the lite Rail back to the hotel... took a while but was pretty easy.
It did take a long time to get on to the light rail, but we were towards the back of the line and that was okay. Well the Vikings didn't win the game and the train was probably 50% Chiefs fans it was okay as everyone had a great time. The only downside was by the time we got back to the hotel it was getting late and we are all tired and hungry and had to go out and search of food.
Overall Amazing Experience
Overall it was an amazing experience. Even though it was probably 50/50 Vikings Chiefs fans and the Vikings were not able to win. The game was competitive, lots of up and down and just overall a wild day. I never would have thought we would get to open the gates, get early access, get field passes, all in our first NFL game. This was clearly something that is unlikely to ever happen in any of our lives again and something that we will remember for forever.
@summertooth - here it is
#sbi-skip