Super Bowl LV

To lead into this story, it is important that I give a little background of myself. I have PTSD from domestic abuse and my little dog Onyx has been the biggest comfort when my it starts to flare up. So, I tend to take him everywhere. He’s gone on so many vacations with me. We have gone to Virginia, North Carolina, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and a few other places, but I think the destination that stands out the most is Tampa for the 2021 Super Bowl LV.

Onyx is registered as service dog and an emotional support dog. As time has gone on more and more, I don’t always take him with me, but 95% of the time he travels every where that I go. I know he doesn’t understand the significance of going to the Super Bowl, but I do!

I work security for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the contract company that I work through was hired by the NFL to do security for the Super Bowl in Tampa. Onyx and I headed to Tampa for twelve days to work the event. It was the first time I had taken him on my job like this. Normally, I just sit in an office and monitor cameras. But this time, I was assigned outside in downtown Tampa Bay at the Bay for what they called “Yacht Village”. This was where all of the millionaires and billionaires parked their yachts and stayed for the week. There were approximately eight yachts docked, two of which were over 600 feet long. They also had a tent that was set up on a floating dock for them that had a check in desk, a big screen so they could watch the game on game day and other shows during the week, a bar, and tables and chairs so they could eat, drink and mingle with the other guests of Yacht Village. They paid a lot of money for the benefits of parking their yachts there and for the tent set up for their enjoyment.

As Onyx stayed with me on post, I kept him in the shade as much as possible. And throughout the week, we met some really great people. People that invented parts for IEDs for our military, the owners of the Kansas City Chiefs, worked with the Secret Service while the Senator was on the dock, pro football players, and many more.

My job was to make sure that anyone trying to get into the village had the appropriate credentials. They had to have owner passes, crew passes, or guest passes to get down the ramp and on to the dock itself. A lot of people just visiting downtown for the Super Bowl would stop and ask a lot questions and take photos of the event. Everyone wanting to go on the dock and look at the yachts. This made for a very interesting and long week, considering a lot of the passerby’s were intoxicated. Because I had gotten to know most of the owners pretty well, I was able to answer generalized questions about the yachts and who the owners were. There was one owner who owned two of the yachts and was renting the smaller of the two out. They were both the same name, but one was permanently docked in the Caribbean and one in Florida.

At the end of the week, Onyx and I had completed our task and I had received numerous awards from the NFL and my security company. It was a memorable experiences I think for the both of us and one I am sure will happen again at another Super Bowl.