Photos: Father And Son Make Once-In-A-Lifetime Journey To Nashville To See Patriots

Rod and Cody Vancil were more than happy to leave their home in Richland, Wash., last Sunday. The father and son decided to go to Foxboro, Massachusetts.

These are great fans in a Seahawks country, and they don’t usually have a chance to watch their favorite players in person. The cross-country road trip was a real gift for them both, and they got the chance to watch a training camp practice in New England. It was definitely on their bucket list.

There was also a good reason for this trip. Cody graduated from high school. The boy was born with Down’s Syndrome and spend the past four years as a manager and honorary captain of his school’s football team – the Hanford Falcons. The classes and practices weren’t too exhausting this year, and he had enough time for the trip. He and his dad have been dreaming of this their entire life.

“I’ve been a Patriots fan since day one of Brady,” Rod said. “I’ve just always wanted to go out there. It was a dream of mine to go to Boston all my life anyway, so after [Cody] got out of school and graduated we made a deal that we’d go to the Northeast for a few weeks.”

It was a 10-hour drive. They stopped in Fargo and Madison on the way, and managed to attend the final public practice in Foxboro.

“I said, ‘Cody, we’re going to miss it,’” Rod explained. “He got really upset, actually, so I said, ‘Well, let me check.’ I knew they were playing Tennessee. I went online and saw they were having a combined practice [with the Titans] and my mind was made up. It was time to detour.”

“We slept 5 hours,” Rod said. “We got up at 6:00 and have been out here in the sun.”

It was a good experience for them both.

“I can’t say enough how excited he has been,” Rod said of his son as he reflected on the past week of activities.

“It just makes me feel so good that am able to do this for Cody. That is the biggest thing.”