Heartwarming: Beloved Man Granted Wish to See CU Football Play

For many people in Colorado (myself included), football quite literally means the world.

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As a CSU alum, I’ve gone to my fair share of Rams games and have been stoked to see them starting off the season hot. In fact, the last time they had a winning record at all was all the way back in 2017, so really any success is exciting for us Ram fans.

However, there’s plenty of heartwarming stories that happen when a passionate football fan is rewarded for what they’ve done.

For example, a veteran from Windsor named John Jones was given tickets to see his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers. In a strange twist, he got the tickets from Miami Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. 

Now, another fan is going to be getting a special chance to see his favorite team play, and this time, it’s right here in Colorado.

Wish of a Lifetime Gives Lifelong Buffs Fan One-in-a-Million Experience

There’s a fantastic program that is run by AARP called Wish of a Lifetime, which is meant to give older people an experience they will never forget. Think of it like Make a Wish, but for adults.

In fact, the program was started in 2008 by Colorado’s own Jeremy Bloom, who is the first person to be drafted in the NFL while also being in the U.S. National Ski Team. 

He started it because of the profound role his grandparents, Donna and Jerry, and played in his life. In fact, he started it as a tribute to his late grandmother. 

Now, Wish of a Lifetime is going to be sending a CU Football super-fan to see his first game in 20 years.

Riley Rhoades is 72 years old, and was a season ticket holder for Buffaloes home games for over 30 years.

However, he hasn’t been back since 2004. 

Since then, Rhoades has battled a couple of different ailments, including end stage renal failure, where you lose function of your kidneys, and spina bifida, which he has had since birth.

However, Rhoades has remained an absolutely beloved part of his community, and is known to be the jokester at the assisted living facility he lives at.

Despite having setbacks throughout the years, his positive attitude and want to make others around him smile are incredibly admirable.

For Wish of a Lifetime, he only had one wish: To watch his beloved Buffaloes play at Folsom Field.

On November 16th, that wish will be granted when CU plays Utah.

Not only that, but he will also get to meet a couple of players on the team and get to meet head coach Deion Sanders as well.

Look, even though I’m a fan of CSU, this kind of thing absolutely warms my heart, and it couldn’t be going towards a better person.

Congratulations, Riley!