Alex and Scott Hamm won tickets to the Rams NFC title game in Los Angeles from Kelly Stafford, wife of the team’s star QB. (Photo provided by OSF Saint Anthony Hospital)
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Three years ago, Alex and Scott Hamm scrapped their plans for a big wedding at a fancy resort in favor of a low-key ceremony in a county courthouse.

They traded in tuxedos and dresses for two specially made Rams jerseys with nameplates that read “bride” and “groom.” His jersey was No. 10 for the month they started dating; hers was No. 3 for the date.

The change of plans came together about a week before the Oct. 3, 2019, wedding, and they had the jerseys delivered overnight so they would have them in time for the ceremony. You could call it a game-time decision.

But that last-minute decision is leading to lifelong memories, and last week it helped the couple win a trip to Los Angeles to see their favorite team earn the NFC title and a shot at the Super Bowl.

Kelly Stafford, the wife of the Rams’ star QB Matthew Stafford, gave away tickets to Sunday’s game against the 49ers on Instagram. The bride and groom jerseys — along with the couple’s service as a nurse and military veteran, respectively — caught her eye.

Related: Seven babies. Five months. One unit at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center

In telling Alex Hamm that she and her husband won the tickets, Kelly Stafford wrote:

“Love the jersey wedding and I have good news: I have two tickets that are yours on one condition — you cheer loud. Please tell your husband thank-you for his service and also thank-you for being on the frontline. What an amazing couple you are.”

Alex, a nurse who works as a perinatal educator at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center’s Family Birthing Center, has been a Rams fan from birth. The Mount Pleasant, Iowa, native inherited the fandom from her grandfather, a longtime fan of the St. Louis Rams before the team moved back to L.A. in 2016. Scott, an Army veteran who works for Northern Pipeline Construction, also grew up liking the Rams.

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Scott and Alex Hamm, two local Rams superfans, got married in custom-made jerseys. (Photo provided by OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center)

Alex said she was overwhelmed the moment she got the message last Thursday saying they won the tickets.

“I couldn’t catch my breath,” Hamm said of reading the message while at work.

“I was like, we got the tickets, I got the tickets, I get to go to this game, if they win this game they go to the Super Bowl,” she said. “My manager was like, ‘I don’t know what any of that means,’ because I was so excited and talking so fast.”

They got to sit the middle section of the new SoFi Stadium, a multibillion dollar venue that opened in Los Angeles just over a year ago.

“There is not a bad seat at that stadium, but they were awesome seats,” Alex said. “The energy from all the Rams fans was crazy.”

Stafford and the Rams went on to beat San Francisco 20-17 and will now play the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. Tickets to that game are some of the most expensive in history, averaging nearly $10,300 per seat, according to Seat Geek. So, the couple will likely be watching that game at home in Scott’s “man cave” that’s decked out floor to ceiling in Rams memorabilia, Alex said.

“The Rams are currently selling Rams game-day experience tickets, and those are $6,000 a piece, so probably not at the stadium, but we can dream, right?” she said.

Stafford’s signing with the Rams this offseason was a blockbuster move that was expected to help make the team a title contender. Alex said she was excited the moment he signed, but what happened in the last few days has given her even more reasons to cheer for the 13-year NFL veteran.

“I was glad when we got him to begin with,” Hamm said. “I was excited what he was going to bring to the team, never in a million years did I think I’d be emailing back and forth personally with his wife for tickets for the game.”

The email for the free tickets, she said, came from Matthew Stafford’s Rams account.

“Obviously, now he’s going to be my favorite forever,” she said. “No matter how the rest of his career with the Rams goes, I mean no one’s going to ever beat that.”

Scott and Alex Hamm kiss on Oct. 3, 2019, after being married by a judge. It was their 10-year dating anniversary. (Photo by Expedition Joy Photography/Provided by OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center)

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.

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