Billy Welsh is a Philadelphia Eagles fan and John Gladwell is a Kansas City Chiefs fan, but these two Marine Corps veterans have proved they still have each other’s backs after meeting more than two decades ago.
A Facebook post in 2019 from Welsh saying he needed a kidney donation brought the friends back together, according to the TODAY Show.
After seeing the post, Gladwell underwent testing that found he was a match. That led to a successful 10-hour transplant surgery in a Philadelphia hospital.
"It meant the world to me," Welsh said during a Feb. 8 appearance on the show. "I was speechless. John Gladwell is my hero."
Welsh has a son around the same age as Gladwell’s grandson.
"I wasn’t going to let his son grow up without his dad being there for everything," Gladwell told TODAY.
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Eagles team president Don Smolenski heard about the story and contacted Chiefs team president Mark Donovan. Both teams began planning on how to get Welsh and Gladwell to Glendale, Arizona so they could see the Super Bowl LVII matchup together in person.
"The opportunity to bring these two guys together, their two teams playing on the biggest stage in sports, it’s very, very humbling and gratifying," Smolenski told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday.
The teams set up a video call with Welsh and Gladwell and didn't tell either one that the other would be on the call, according to the newspaper.
Executives from both teams told the Marine vets that they would be flown to Arizona, put up in hotel rooms and seated next to each other at the game.
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Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.