Ryan Shazier and Pepsi team up to surprise a pair of deserving Steelers fans

Tim and his son Pat are dedicated life-long Steelers fans. Here’s why Ryan Shazier and Pepsi teamed up to bring them an unforgettable experience.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are prepping for the 2020 season with their first game against the New York Giants just over a week away. Unfortunately, the organization has already declared that fans will not be allowed to attend games for at least the first month of the season.

While this may not seem like a big deal to those of you at home who typically watch the game from the comfort of your own living room, there are many fans who are used to enjoying the game with 65,000 roaring Steelers fans. Very few of these fans are more dedicated than Tim Dougherty and his son Pat.

Since 1973, Tim has been a season ticket holder who has ventured to Heinz Field regularly. The Pittsburgh native would take his wife and son to Steelers home games where they would sit five rows from the top of the bleachers. Tragically, the last few years haven’t been good to Tim.

2018 was a very difficult year for Tim and his family. Tim’s wife of 34 years passed away after three years of being in and out of the hospital battling illness. Tim was also diagnosed with cancer a week after his anniversary in the same year.

Last season, Tim did not attend any football games as he underwent chemotherapy treatment. Sadly, he and Pat are unable to resume their father/son tradition of attending home games to begin the season due to the pandemic.

Recently, Pepsi teamed up with former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Ryan Shazier, to launch the “Every Game is a Home Game” documentary about the Dougherty’s. Though they can’t attend games anytime soon, their usual seats at Heinz Field were removed from the stadium and brought to their doorstep. Shazier was there to greet them as the stadium seats were carried into their house.

“On behalf of Pepsi and the Steelers, we knew you couldn’t make it to the game this year, so we wanted to bring the seats to you guys,” Shazier said upon entering the Dougherty household. “I know what it’s like to lose something you love, so we just wanted to make sure we brought it to you.”

“Mom would have loved this,” Pat Dougherty told the film crew. “In the toughest times, you lean on the people you love the most, and we have each other. That’s good enough for me.”

Tim and Pat Dougherty embody exactly what it means to be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. To check out the full “Every Game is a Home Game” documentary, click on the video above, and be sure to check out Pepsi’s new Steelers fan website, MadeForSteelersWatching.com.