Coleen Peppin's decision to sign up to be a designated driver at a Bears game this season paid off in a big way.
The Lansing resident won a trip to the Pro Bowl after being selected as the winner of the "Responsibility Has Its Rewards" sweepstakes for designated drivers. She was randomly chosen as the grand prize recipient from among nearly 250,000 fans throughout the NFL.
"It couldn't have come at a better time," Peppin said via telephone from Hawaii. "When I won the trip I said this is great because two of my favorite things are football and Hawaii. We were pretty stoked."
Peppin and her husband Brian arrived in Hawaii on Thursday. They've been Bears season-ticket holders since giving the tickets to each other as a wedding present nearly 10 years ago.
Peppin is excited to watch five Bears players compete in Sunday's Pro Bowl: Running back Matt Forte, receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, guard Kyle Long and cornerback Tim Jennings.
Peppin received a phone call informing her she had won the Pro Bowl trip.
"I was at work and I think I squealed a little too loudly and everybody came over and asked what was wrong," she said. "I said, 'No, I won, it's a good thing.'"
Remarkably, Peppin and her husband went to Hawaii back when they were dating after he had won a trip from a Chicago radio station.
"It's the second trip we've won to Hawaii," she said. "What are the odds?"
