SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Craig Fuchs still isn’t over the surprise he got last Sunday just one week before Super Bowl LVII.
While at home in the Kansas City area, former Chiefs player Kendall Gammon surprised Fuchs with an all-expenses paid trip for four people to go to the big game in Glendale, Arizona.
“It’s just such a shock, so humbling, just an amazing blessing,” Fuchs said. “Here we are: We’re in Phoenix!”
Team Gleason made the donation.
Named after former NFL player Steve Gleason, the organization provides ALS patients with unique experiences. For the past several years, it has sent fans from each team playing in the Super Bowl to football's biggest game.
Doctors diagnosed Fuchs with ALS, a disease that affects a person's ability to control their movements, in February 2022.
Fuchs is thankful for organizations like Team Gleason and the ALS Association for their support.
“It inspires you because, I gotta tell you, this could be a pretty lonely disease. You hope for the best, you know what’s possible," he said. "I hate to say inevitable because I don’t think it is inevitable — I think you learn to live with it and adapt. If you give up, then it’s inevitable. I refuse to give up."
Team Gleason even provided Fuchs, 60, with a motorized wheelchair to use during the trip with his wife and two adult children.
In the 1990s, Fuchs spent countless hours watching Chiefs games in-person at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium while playing trumpet in the TD Pack Band. He played with the group for 13 years.
