A longtime Detroit Lions fan is going to this weekend’s playoff game with Amon-Ra St. Brown’s tickets. And it’s all because his aunt bought a cronut.
Nicholas Monjarez, 34, of Detroit, found out Friday morning that he’ll be at Ford Field on Saturday night when the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions host the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders.
It’s the divisional round of the NFL playoffs with a spot in the NFC Championship Game on the line.
This story continues below the video.
Playoff tickets giveaway
This all started when the Home Bakery in Rochester made a life-sized cake depicting St. Brown’s viral headstand touchdown celebration. St. Brown did the headstand in the end zone of Lambeau Field when the Lions beat the Packers back in Week 9.
Photos of the cake flooded social media, and St. Brown even visited the bakery to see for himself.
He took it a step further by helping out the bakery with a giveaway.
“In honor of the Home Bakery in Rochester, Michigan, I will be giving away two home playoff tickets to the divisional round next week,” St. Brown said. “So, win a chance to attend our divisional round next weekend.
“All you need to do is purchase any item at Home Bakery between Jan. 13 and Jan. 16 to enter the contest. The winner will be announced on Friday, Jan. 17. The raffle will be a random selection. I promise you I will take care of you with the seats. But shoutout to Home Bakery. The cake is nuts. I need a flick with it.”
Monjarez’s aunt went to bakery
Monjarez has his aunt to thank for winning the tickets.
“She loves cronuts, and she loves the Lions, so for my birthday, she decided to get me an entry to win, and on my birthday card, it said, ‘I got you one entry. If you don’t win, I waited two hours outside in the cold to get these and it was a labor of love,‘” Monjarez said.
He said he didn’t expect to win, but he appreciated the gesture.
“It was, like, ‘Thanks aunt Cindy, I appreciate you, and thank you for the cronut’ -- it was very delicious, by the way,” Monjarez said.
He said he would like to take his aunt to the game since she’s the one who entered him for the tickets, but he’d also like to take his dad.
“I would like to take her,” Monjarez said. “Also, my dad has been a lifelong Lions fan and he’s never been able to -- this is pretty amazing. So I might take my dad. It depends. There’s a list, you know. There’s a whole list. I don’t want to hurt anybody, so we’ll see.”
Learning that he won
Monjarez said he learned that he had won Friday morning over the phone.
“I get a text message: ‘Is this Nicholas Monjarez? Please respond,’ and I’m, like, ‘I’m not answering this. This is a scam for sure,‘” Monjarez said. “They call me, I’m, like, ‘OK this is way invasive.’ Then they say, please call us back or we’re moving onto the next person.”
He said that’s when it clicked that it could be about the tickets.
“I called them back right away, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I have your tickets,’” Monjarez said. “I was still skeptical, though.”
He said the caller identified himself as part of St. Brown’s team. When the caller mentioned the bakery, Monjarez realized it was legit.
Monjarez was first announced as the winner on the St. Brown Podcast.
Going to the game
Monjarez said it still feels unreal that he gets to go to the game, which is one of the biggest in Lions history.
Last season -- when the Lions won wildcard and divisional round games -- was the first time playoff football came to Ford Field. But this year, the Lions are the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the favorite to advance to the Super Bowl.
So Saturday’s game against the Commanders is maybe the hottest Lions ticket since they left the Silverdome.
“It’s amazing,” Monjarez said. “It feels unreal still. This is definitely going to be one of those experiences I look back on for sure in my life.”
He said there’s no way he would have spent the money to buy tickets for himself if he hadn’t won St. Brown’s giveaway.
He also expects the Lions to continue doing what they’ve done all season.
“We’re going to win, of course,” Monjarez said. “We’re going to win. You can feel the synergy from the team. You can feel that everybody’s hyped up. We’re at home. We’ve had the rest. It’s going to be great.”
Monjarez said he’s been a fan of the Lions since he was a kid, but he hasn’t gone to a game in his adult life. This is quite a way to break that streak.