leading up to a Super Bowl<\/a> \u2014 before any memorable plays are made that shape players\u2019 lives and careers \u2014 a lot of cool things can happen.\u00a0<\/p>\nJaxson Dart looks on during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on January 4, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Getty Images<\/p>\n
One of them occurred last week when Gary Schacher, a 65-year-old Rockland County native who served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserves for 26 years (1980\u20132006), achieving the rank of E7 Chief Petty Officer, was given two tickets to Super Bowl 2026 by Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dart, who has family members who\u2019ve served in the military, teamed up with USAA, Official Salute to Service Partner and the American Legion to gift Super Bowl tickets to seven military veterans like Schacher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still in shock, and it\u2019s been over a week,\u2019\u2019 Schacher told The Post over the phone Friday. \u201cIt was extremely surprising.\u2019\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he got a call from American Legion national headquarters asking him if he was available the following morning to go on a Zoom call to work on some logistics for next year\u2019s Army-Navy game, which will be played at MetLife Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I get on the call and they talk a little bit about the Army-Navy game and they say, \u2018You know, the Army-Navy game is like the Super Bowl of college football,\u2019 \u2019\u2019 Schacher recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they said, \u2018Well, you\u2019re going to the Super Bowl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Schacher said the last line went right over his head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gary Schacher, a 65-year-old Rockland County native who served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserves for 26 years (1980\u20132006). Credit: Gary Schacher<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t catch it at first,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cAnd finally they said, \u2018No, you\u2019re really going to the Super Bowl. You\u2019ve been selected because of your accomplishments, what you\u2019ve done in the military, the Legion and your community. You\u2019re more than deserving of this.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Schacher served in the U.S. Navy (Fleet and Seabees), with various roles as a Gunner\u2019s Mate and Small Arms Instructor.<\/p>\n
Among the highlights of his military career include commissioning the USS Clifton Sprague (FFG-16) in 1981 and assignments to multiple bases across the U.S., and overseas deployments to Fallujah, Iraq, and Rota, Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was awarded four Navy Commendation Medals and three Navy Achievement Medals, the Navy Expert Pistol Medal, the Navy Expert Rifle Medal and several campaign, service and unit awards.<\/p>\n
And he was a recipient of the New York Conspicuous Service Star and the New York Medal for Merit.<\/p>\n
In 2017, he was inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I reflect on my first season, I\u2019m most appreciative of the connections I\u2019ve made with the fans and the local community who show up for us every single day,\u2019\u2019 Dart said. \u201cComing from a military family myself, it\u2019s important for me to honor those who served because we wouldn\u2019t have the chance to do what we love on Sundays without the sacrifices made by heroes like Gary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Schacher called it \u201chumbling to have been selected\u2019\u2019 for this honor, adding, \u201cAnd then to have a New York Giant announce that I\u2019m going to the Super Bowl\u2026 \u2019\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fun rub here is Schacher is a lifelong Jets fan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gary Schacher and wife Laurie. Credit: Gary Schacher<\/p>\n
\u201cI go back to the Joe Namath days, [John] Riggins, Freeman McNeil,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cBut I do root for the Giants. I\u2019m a New York sports fan.\u2019\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Schacher said the last football game he attended in person was a Giants game in 1973. The last Jets game he saw in person was before that.<\/p>\n
When I mentioned how funny it is that the face of the Giants is sending him to his first Super Bowl, Schacher said, \u201cI guess I have to be more of a Giants fan now.\u2019\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s never met Dart, but will next week before the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big football fan, a big sports fan, and to be part of something like this is just amazing,\u2019\u2019 Schacher said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched many, many Super Bowl games on television and thought how great it would be to be in the seats and watch the game. But I never thought it would happen.\u2019\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Schacher said his wife, Laurie, will accompany him to The Big Game. They have two daughters, Kimberly and Cara. Cara lives in Seattle and is a Seahawks fan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked what he plans to say to Dart other than, \u201cThank you,\u2019\u2019 Schacher said, \u201cI\u2019m still working on that. I mean, just looking at his stats, to me that\u2019s the Rookie of the Year. Hopefully, he stays with the Giants a long time.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 26-year Navy vet from the area was surprised by a Super Bowl invite from Jaxson Dart as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,13,56,6,9,505,41484],"class_list":{"0":"post-720752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jaxson-dart","10":"tag-new-york-giants","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-super-bowl","14":"tag-super-bowl-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115993694946876543","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}