"My Experience at Super Bowl 50": Contest Winner Shares Highlights

Entry written by Super Bowl Contest winner: Angela Porras

Going to the Super Bowl has always been #1 on my bucket list, and is considered a once in a lifetime opportunity for most people. When I found out I had won the contest run by NFL WAGS, I was beside myself. Not only was I ticking this dream off the list, but my favorite team of all time was actually playing! I don't know what the chances of this happening is, but it happened, and there were a lot of things to organize leading up to it. It was a whirlwind trip, but the best experience of my life to date.  I just wanted to give a special thank you to LeShonda Martin and WAGS Redefined for gifting me with this amazing experience (two tickets to the Super Bowl)! I don't know if I would have ever had the chance to do something as special as this, and it meant everything to myself and my guest, CJ. We are forever grateful.

Words couldn't describe my experience, but I hope the pictures will help.

I was still in Australia when I was informed of my win, and wasn't set to come home for a few weeks. I quickly rearranged my flights from L.A. to San Francisco and packed my bags to leave a few days later!

Trying to book a hotel a week before the Super Bowl would have been a nightmare if not for a dear friend residing in SF. Not a bad view! The luck continues...

Once settled in, I had to explore the city. It was still very surreal at this point. San Francisco had really put a lot of effort into transforming the city for the big event!

It's not every day you get to wander the streets and cross paths with NFL Legend Marshall Faulk! Throughout the week, many NFL players engaged positively with fans, and if you were lucky enough some of them even became your Lyft driver!

There were parties everywhere, even on Fisherman's Wharf! Some more exclusive than others, like this Denver Broncos fan party. My invitation was lost in the mail, but that didn't stop me from crashing it!

It wouldn't be a dream vacation without a little shopping. Not sure these are for me but just think: Someone in the world owns these shoes.

The night before the big game, Thomas Davis found out I played women's football. He was so impressed he called up David Gettleman and they put me on the roster. I didn't even have to try out. What are the chances? Not sure how Cam is gonna feel when he finds out he has to change his number.

As you can see, I fit in just fine!

Finally! IT IS GAME DAY. I've never been more excited to be  smashed among the masses as we waited to get in!

The Super Bowl was a star studded event! Elvis even made an appearance, and he roots for the Panthers!!!

Sometimes you just need a larger than life LUUUUUUUUKE.

Here is the most surreal moment of the entire trip. I don't know how to explain the feeling I had taking this photo, seeing this field, getting ready to cheer on the Panthers. Soon after this photo was taken, Lady Gaga took the stage and gave a phenomenal performance of our National Anthem. It was truly an amazing experience.

The Panthers weren't doing so well going into the half, but in all honesty, it was REALLY hard to care once Beyonce hit the stage! All of the performers were incredible, but who can top Queen Bey?!

CJ and I were finally reunited on American soil on game day and had an incredible experience together, and I could not have won this competition without her. She had a crazier schedule than I did, and had no plans to travel to the U.S. until we won this competition. The day after the Super Bowl she flew back to Australia to participate in a football camp to try out for the Australian team!

The outcome of the game wasn't what I had hoped for but I still left that stadium feeling like a winner. A lot of people apologized to me when I returned home, which was confusing. You win some, you lose some and it's your attitude that determines where to go from here. If I had known my team would lose, I wouldn't change a thing.

- Angela

WAGS Redefined Founder LeShonda Martin A Guest on NFL Female

I am not an NFL WAG, but -- as a longtime NFL professional -- I can relate to the mission of WAGS Redefined. So can NFL Female, a forum for diehard football fans who just happen to be women. That is why they reached out to WAGS Redefined founder LeShonda Martin for an interview on their weekly podcast. Dayna, the site's Seattle Seahawks reporter, spoke with LeShonda about her mission for the site, common misconceptions of NFL WAGS, and Sunday's Super Bowl.

Interview highlights:

On the stereotype of NFL WAGS

"I went to college at a top-20 school, I have my master's, I have started my own businesses, I worked in athletic administration, I have a career of my own and I've always been a career-minded woman. I know NFL WAGS who are lawyers, doctors, (personal trainers), and stay-at-home moms. Either way (the NFL is) a job. No one's just sitting around doing nothing and waiting for their man to come home. Like I said, there's a lot of things that I think just aren't highlighted in the media. It's not fair from where I'm sitting, so that's why I set out to change it."

On the biggest challenges of being an NFL family

I want to start talking about some of the realities of free agency on the website and write from a personal perspective. My husband and I have gone through this the past couple of years. He was drafted to the Panthers in 2009 and played for them for four years, but the past couple of years he's switched teams. We just finished up with the Bears this past season. But it can be very difficult, just the uncertainty. I know of some families that start the year in one city and if you have kids it becomes 10 times harder. You start your kids in school one city and then they finish up in another.

But just the uncertainty and even for those families who are fortunate enough to have multi-year deals, even that is not a sure thing. I know of a couple of cases with some of my friends where they had a three-, four-year contract, but it just didn't work out that way and they were on to the next team. I would say just to speak to the difficulties, the uncertainty, and being away from one another during training camp or if you do have someone who has a job - you're a significant other and you have a job in a certain city and your man has to go off, you're traveling back and forth. I know some of the wives that never move with their husbands - they call themselves weekend wives - and even travel with a newborn baby back and forth so the father can see their child. But those are some of the difficulties.

On the public scrutiny

Just like any public figure, it's tough to be judged in the media. No one likes to be spoken about negatively. It does come with the territory. It is part of my mission to change the way NFL women and men are spoken about in terms of their personal lives. It's one thing to go after these players for what they do on the field - I get it. But I'd just like to see some of the personal attacks go away.

On the WAGS Redefined Super Bowl 50 ticket giveaway

We saw some creative dances out there and then, from that, we put it on our Facebook and the top four videos with the most votes went on to round two, and then round two was an email submission where you had to answer why are you an NFL fan and why you deserve to win. The lady who won, she just emailed me today and told me that she received the tickets, but I feel really great about her going. She is a die-hard football fan, NFL fan, Panthers fan, and she actually helped to grow a women's football league out there in California and is working to redefine the stereotypes of women who play football as well. It was really cool to have that connection and to send somebody who really wants to go. She's actually going to do a write-up and take photos while she's there, so look out for her recap on the site.

You can listen to the full interview on NFLFemale.com.