Hard-core fans who became engaged at Eskimo game win record-breaking 50/50 jackpot
Quentin and Samantha Ebertz went to the Edmonton Eskimos game last Friday and went about their game ritual: buying popcorn, getting to their seats, and buying one 50/50 ticket.
At a news conference hosted by the Edmonton Eskimos Tuesday, the Ebertz were announced as the winners of the record-breaking jackpot of $435,919.50.
"It really doesn't sink in," Quentin Ebertz said. "You look at the ticket 10 or 15 times and compare it.
"It was a pretty good moment at that point."
Quentin said he remembered checking the numbers twice before waking up his wife Samantha. Right after confirming their ticket number, the couple called Samantha's mother at 7:30 a.m.
"We bought them a ticket too," Samantha Ebertz said. "But we took a picture to make sure we knew whose ticket it was."
Proposed on the field
Quentin, 40, who works at Wakefield Canada and Samantha, 30, a stay-at-home mother, are avid football fans, even meeting through a flag football league.
"Our whole relationship grew from football," Samantha Ebertz said.
The couple are longtime Eskimos fans and have been sitting in Section J at Commonwealth Stadium since 2005.
When it came time to propose to Samantha after six years of dating, Quentin knew he had to get the Eskimos involved. He proposed on the field in September 2011 following the Labor Day Classic.
The Ebertz said they will use the money to pay off debt and use some of the money for fun, possibly taking a vacation in September for their anniversary.
"The money is going to let us do more things together as a family," Quentin Ebertz said.
'Truly jaw-dropping'
The jackpot grew dramatically Friday after the 50/50 prize of $82,060 at the Eskimos' previous game went unclaimed.
"This is truly jaw-dropping ... and tax-free," Eskimos president Len Rhodes said. "We've become the talk of the town, and across the country."
The other half of the jackpot goes to promote the growth of amateur football in northern Alberta. In the last five years, the Eskimos have contributed $2.5 million to developing the amateur game.
Quentin Ebertz, who used to play for the Northern Rams in his hometown of Sherwood Park, said he's thrilled that the money goes to amateur football.
"Its hard to fathom the numbers in the total, but we're happy that its going back to minor football," he said.
The couple is hoping their two-year-old son will get involved with football in the future.
"We have a really great book written by the Eskimos, and this is just another chapter for us," they said at the press conference. "Its just part of our life, it really is at this point."
anna.desmarais@cbc.ca
@anna_desmarais
