Flyers fans have faith as run at playoff spot follows family's jersey gift to Pope Leo XIV
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trying for any kind of divine intervention to reverse the fortunes of his favorite hockey team, Philadelphia Flyers fan Mike Culin skipped traditional good-luck gimmicks for a more heavenly approach: Gift Pope Leo XIV his own customized Flyers jersey on a family trip to Italy. “I was like, what are you doing? This costs a lot of money,” said Culin's wife, Christine.
“Do you really think you’re going to be able to reach the Pope to give him this? And he believed. ” Only Job suffered more than Flyers fans have for most of the last five decades, yet Mike Culin always kept the faith, both on ice and on high.
When the time came, Culin was ready for the ultimate one-timer — a shot at somehow getting the Flyers jersey with “ Pope Leo ” on the back and 14 for a uniform number (with apologies to the current No. 14, Sean Couturier) from Essington, Pennsylvania, to the Vatican and into the hands of the first U. S.
-born pope, Chicago born and an avowed sports fan. The Culins and their son, Jesse Gennett, and his wife and her parents made a family trip to Italy that included staking out a spot for the papal audience in St. Peter’s Square.
The families lined up on March 18 with jersey in hand, hoping to catch Leo's attention as he wheeled by in the popemobile . “That was the goal, just to get him to see it,” Gennett said. “We're like, alright, we need to be close to the side because that's where your best chances are that he'll see it.