Oakmont couple wins tickets to Super Bowl

Jeanine Gevaudan was born and bred a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

“Growing up, on Sundays we were at my grandma’s house watching the games, there’d be a big spread — it was always Steelers Sunday,” said Gevaudan, 52.

In her adulthood, Gevaudan is a season ticket holder.

Coming from a family that has always loved Steelers football, Gevaudan, of Oakmont, purchased the seat license from her parents in 2019. Her parents had owned the season tickets since the team played at the Three Rivers Stadium.

She has gone to every home game this season. In recognition of her perfect attendance, the team invited Gevaudan and one guest to participate in a drawing for tickets to the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Gevaudan and her husband, Mark Zmenkowski, 49, were told to be at the season-ticket-holder tent before Saturday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Gevaudan and nine other season ticket holders with perfect attendance were brought into the stadium through the opposing team tunnel and lined up on the field.

Each ticket holder picked a number out of a hat. That number corresponded with a boxed football signed by a Steelers player. When told to open their boxes, all of the participants, except for one, were greeted with a “sorry” written on the underside of the lid.

Gevaudan said her mind went blank when she saw the word “congratulations” on the lid of her football.

“My brain froze for a second,” Gevaudan said. “I just looked at Mark and my mouth was hanging open and I just turned the box around to show him. I just couldn’t believe it.”

She had chosen her husband’s favorite number — six. The box contained a football signed by Justin Fields, the Steelers’ backup quarterback.

After the drawing, Gevaudan, Zmenkowski and the other season ticket holders were given field passes to watch the team warm up.

“We’ve never been on the field when the players were there, so that was really cool,” she said.

A video of her win was posted to all of the team’s social media accounts. Soon after she sat down for the game, her phone was flooded with messages of congratulations and offers to be her plus-one.

“I think that’s one ticket you’d really have to wrestle off of (Mark),” Gevaudan said.

In addition to the tickets, the Steelers will be paying for the couple’s hotel stay.

On a sentimental level, the couple will be returning to the city where they hosted their wedding reception.

“It being in New Orleans, it feels like it was meant to be, kind of,” Gevaudan said. “That’s our place.”

She and Zmenkowski planned to host their wedding in New Orleans, but covid-19 changed their plans. They ended up getting married locally and traveled to New Orleans to host their reception in the venue they originally planned in 2022.

“This is a once in a lifetime thing,” Gevaudan said. “I still can’t believe it.”