Seeing his idol for one last time is the best thing that could happen for a terminally ill fan.
Fulfilling the fan's final wish
Cleveland Browns' quarterback Baker Mayfield knew that they would have a guest in their match against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Last week, one last wish requested by a die-hard Browns fan was granted: a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a terminally-ill patient whose days are already numbered.
Tom Seipel, a graduate of Ohio State, was nearing his end days. To make things special before he says goodbye, Seipel's final wish came true with the help of his favorite NFL team, the Cleveland Browns. The last time that the Browns entered the playoff round was in 2002.
During the NFL Week 16, the Columbus native, who is suffering from cancer in the kidney, watched the Cleveland Browns face Pittsburgh Steelers as an official guest for Baker Mayfield and Emily, his wife.
Seipel's trip, most importantly, was made possible through the efforts of the people behind the podcast 'Angry Browns fans.'
"It was the best adventure of my life for sure. Outside of those monuments of family moments, it was for sure the coolest thing I've ever experienced. You joke, well, I could die happy now, well now I can. I'm just on Cloud 9," Seipel spoke in an interview with 10TV.
In December, Seipel, who has been diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2017, shared how it all started in a Reddit page post.
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According to People, the post from the Cleveland Browns' fan grabbed the Dawgs of War's attention, a podcast. Eventually, it also piqued the curiosity of the 25-year-old quarterback Baker Mayfield and his wife, Emily.
When Rawley Davis, one of the Dawgs of War emcees, learned about Seipel's final wish, he commenced a funding program on GoFundMe to shoulder all travel expenses of Seipel and his father for a Cleveland game.
Davis' co-host, Kevin Tuleta, helped him to organize Seipel's travel costs.
In a short time since starting the project, over $24,500 was donated for the Georgia-Cleveland trip of Seipel. Davis reached out to Emily Mayfield after successfully fundraising for the fan's travel expenses.
Emily Mayfield bought ten seats for Seipel and his father to make a dream come true for the cancer patient.
In this COVID-stricken year, Seipel met Baker Mayfield, after the Cleveland Browns' routed the Steelers, 24-22. This was Seipel's first time in two years since his diagnosis to watch the NFL.
Baker posted an inspiring Instagram video for the long-time Browns' supporter.
Baker encouraged Seipel to keep fighting his battle. Furthermore, the Browns' quarterback commended Seipel's 'warrior' spirit in his real-life fight. He told Seipel to keep supporting the Browns in the 2020 NFL Playoffs.
Seipel was happy after watching the video. He called Baker 'Mr. Dangerous,' who is full of swagger but at the same time, he appreciated that the quarterback has the biggest heart that he had ever seen.
On his Reddit post, Seipel spoke to the Akron Beacon Journal that he never imagined that his wish would turn into anything.
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