Forget the thrilling finishes Jay Cutler and crew have treated Bears fans to this season, the most exciting part of the games at Jerseys Sports Bar & Grill have been the opening kickoff to start the game and second half.
That's because the Hoffman Estates bar started a promotion this season that promised $10,000 to a customer if a Bears player took a kickoff all the way in for a touchdown. After all, the chances seemed fairly slim, especially since Devin Hester doesn't do kickoffs anymore, right?
Wrong. Enter Johnny Knox, the Bears rookie who's been making a name for himself and added another chapter to his story by scoring a 102-yard touchdown to start the second half against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. And by doing so, he made Taylor Sale, who was watching the game at Jersey's, $10,000 richer.
Customers fill out a form when they enter the bar, and a drawing is held after each winning kickoff. The names are kept in the same box week after week, which means you increase your chances by going to the bar for each game. Sales has watched every Bears game at Jersey's, which means he had four chances to win.
Sales says he and a buddy made a deal right before the drawing that if one of them won, they would use the money to go to the remaining Bears home games.
The promotion continues for the rest of the season, but is the bar worried about Knox going on a touchdown tear, a la 2007 Devin Hester?
"I would absolutely love it," owner Gregg Majewski said. "This is the best advertising you could ask for, the word of mouth when people find out they can come in and make some money."
