GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For Peggy Middleton, the Detroit Lions have had her waiting for more than just a Super Bowl victory in her life.
But, through it all, she's never left the team's side.
Middleton started watching the Lions when she was 10 years old.
"I was real little, with my dad at first," Middleton said.
Little did that 10-year-old know, the team she loved would play a part in one of the biggest moments of her life: The day her husband proposed.
"When he asked me, gave me my engagement ring, I said, 'When?'" Middleton said.
She said he responded by saying they'd get married when the Lions won a Super Bowl.
"I'm like, 'Oh, no,'" she laughed. "I figured it's going to be forever."
Middleton was impatient, so "forever" only ended up being a few years.
"I said, 'I am not waiting anymore, pick a date,'" Middleton said.
The date was set and the two got married, but the circumstances couldn't have been more different than originally planned.
"It's the year they went 0-16," Middleton said.
Instead of tying the knot after a Lions championship, they ended up with the worst season in NFL history. But, the team still followed them to the wedding. A "Go Lions" banner was hung up at the wedding reception — Peggy's idea.
"They went 0-16, but we still said, 'We still are behind you,'" Middleton said.
The couple hopes for a full circle moment, planning to renew their vows if the team ever wins a Super Bowl.
With the chances looking better than ever, a Lions title would mean everything to that 10-year-old girl watching games with her dad.
"I need a new ring because I lost my diamond already," she laughed. "And to prove my husband wrong, that the team still has it and they can finally do it."
Middleton said if the team wins a Super Bowl and they do get to renew their vows, she wants it to happen at Ford Field.
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