Eleven years later, a dream comes true
CAROLYN BOSTICK | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 2 weeks AGO
Carolyn Bostick has worked for the Coeur d’Alene Press since June 2023. She covers Shoshone County and Coeur d'Alene. Carolyn previously worked in Utica, New York at the Observer-Dispatch for almost seven years before briefly working at The Inquirer and Mirror in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Since she moved to the Pacific Northwest from upstate New York in 2021, she's performed with the Spokane Shakespeare Society for three summers. | February 8, 2026 1:09 AM
Eleven years ago, Mike and Kim Steuernagel made their way to Arizona to see the Seahawks play the Patriots in the 2015 Super Bowl.
Dreams were dashed.
“We were never able get into the game,” Steuernagel said.
They bought their tickets on a website and were connected with a broker who was managing the tickets. That broker later resold the tickets at a higher price. The Steuernagels didn't know about it until they had already made their travel plans.
They went anyway, with hopes of landing other tickets. They didn't.
“What happened back in 2015, to my understanding, is it was such a popular Super Bowl that they, in turn, sold our tickets for more money,” Steuernagel said. “It was the last time we played the Patriots in the Super Bowl and we have had season tickets like we have for 37, 38 years."
Even though the Steuernagel received double the money back, they were distraught they didn't see the game in person.
Mike, a Priest River resident, was born and raised in Tacoma and has attended hundreds of Seahawks games over the years — but never the Super Bowl.
"I’m 60-some years old now and I’d like to see my team play in the Super Bowl," he said. “It’s a sad story after being a lifelong fan."
But this year, that story will finally get a happy ending.
Tim Absten, his son's new father-in-law, offered Steuernagel a ticket to the Super Bowl.
Absten had waited for the right moment to let him know that the offer was on the table to make his football dreams turn into a reality in Santa Clara, Calif.
"'I didn’t want to say anything at dinner last night," Absten had said to Steuernagel over the phone, "I actually bought us Super Bowl tickets."
Football history is also coming full circle as the Patriots and the Seahawks are set to face each other in the biggest NFL game of the year.
"I didn’t know I was even going to get a chance to go," Steuernagel said. "It was a good surprise. I feel very blessed."
Jen Absten, Kim Steuernagel, Mike Steuernagel and Tim Absten.ARTICLES BY CAROLYN BOSTICK
'Bad actors' bill fails again
Aimed at protecting home, business owners
After high hopes this legislative session, lobbyist Ken Burgess said that the state bill intended to create protections against unscrupulous contractors won’t be moving on.
Students pitch future professions at reverse job fair
Students pitch future professions at reverse job fair
Ranging from criminology to cosmetology, Post Falls high school students pitched professions that sparked their interest during the reverse job fair on Wednesday at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls.
Kootenai Health, MultiCare celebrate Prairie Medical Campus groundbreaking
Kootenai Health, MultiCare celebrate Prairie Medical Campus groundbreaking
Although hundreds in attendance gathered at the site on Tuesday for the Prairie Medical Campus for a literal groundbreaking, Kootenai Health CEO Jamie Smith pointed out that the project also fulfilled the figurative definition by being new and innovative. “This campus is going to be a gamechanger for the region,” Smith said.