A Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan who sat next to a cut-out version of a Kansas City Chiefs fan at the Super Bowl — exchanging high-fives with the picture and buying the picture a beer after the Bucs scored a touchdown — has launched a search for the real person, tweeting pictures of the cutout in an effort to find him.
LJ Govoni, a veteran season ticket holder for the Bucs who co-owns Big Storm Brewing in Clearwater, Florida, found his seat at the Super Bowl was next to a cutout of a Chiefs fan named Frank. “During the game, Govoni says he did talk some trash with cardboard Frank,” WFLA reported. “He also exchanged high-fives and bought him a beer after a Buccaneers touchdown,”
“It was fun, but it would be even nicer to meet Frank in person and let him know his cardboard image had an unforgettable evening in Tampa,” Govoni told WFLA, adding, “It’s been a difficult year and football has, at times, provided us with an escape and a way to bring us together, no matter what team you’re cheering for. In a normal year, maybe Frank would have been at the Super Bowl in person. So why not at least try and find him, offer him a free flight to Florida when he can come and show him some Tampa Bay hospitality.”
@nfl. Help me find my new friend “frank” this @Chiefs fan. Frank if u see this I want to fly you to Florida to have beers with w/ me at our brewery @BigStormBrewing. Come on @Twitter help me find “frank”. Cc: @JoeBucsFan @KCStar @prestonrudie @tropicalupdate @GreatBayDist #sbLV pic.twitter.com/7jJgXiMDUi
— LJ Govoni (@LJGovoni) February 7, 2021
30,000 coroplast images were cut out for the Super Bowl. Each had an LED pixel. Jason Baker, director of execution for bluemedia, which created, delivered and installed the cutouts for the game, a process taking three months, said, “It was quite the process. It was a seven-day period for us to do this (installation), working about 12- to 16-hour days.”
Baker continued, “We have done this on a smaller scale (for other NFL teams) but not anywhere near tens of thousands for the NFL for obviously the biggest game in sports. I do hope this is the first and last time we do it for obvious reasons. But we’re (fortunate) to be in association with our partner (NFL) on this one. It’s an amazing experience.”
Coroplast, also known as PP plate sheet (“Fluted Polypropylene Sheet”), is non-toxic, waterproof, shockproof, and colorfast. Brian McCarthy, a spokesperson for the NFL, tweeted prior to the game that they were “pretty cool looking”:
There are 30,000 fan cutouts placed thruout the stadium & about 25k people here. Place looked packed when I arrived at 8:30 a.m. today. Cutouts provide physical distance btwn pods of fans & vaccinated health care workers. And they are pretty cool looking. $ goes to charity #SBLV
https://twitter.com/NFLprguy/status/1358573514060681219
Buzzfeed News noted, “In case you were wondering, it apparently cost $100 to have your cutout watch the game. Average ticket costs in 2020 were $7,000, so do with this information what you will. As it turns out, cardboard cutouts have become pretty commonplace during the pandemic.”