Trying for any kind of divine intervention to reverse the fortunes of team, Philadelphia Flyers fan Mike Culin skipped traditional good-luck gimmicks for a more heavenly approach—gifting Pope Leo XIV his own customized Flyers jersey on a family trip to Italy. "I was like, what are you doing? This costs a lot of money," said Culin's wife, Christine. "Do you really think you're going to be able to reach the pope to give him this? And he believed." Only Job suffered more than Flyers fans have for most of the last five decades, yet Mike Culin always kept the faith, both on ice and on high, the AP reports.
When the time came, Culin was ready to try to somehow get the jersey with "Pope Leo" on the back and 14 for a uniform number from Essington, Pennsylvania, to the Vatican and into the hands of the first US-born pope, an avowed sports fan. The Culins and their son, Jesse Gennett, and his wife and her parents made a trip to Italy that included staking out a spot for the papal audience in St. Peter's Square. The families lined up on March 18 with jersey in hand, hoping to catch Leo's attention as he wheeled by in the popemobile. "That was the goal, just to get him to see it," Gennett said, adding, "And he saw it. He pointed at it and kind of gave it like a thumbs-up. It happened so fast."
"For you! For you!" Gennett's wife, Valerie Giacobbe, yelled toward the entourage. Sure enough, a member of the security team snagged the jersey, and it was passed off to a man who admired the jersey sitting behind Leo. The families hollered in celebration. Culin's wish was as much about getting the Flyers a little extra help down the stretch as it was about sending Leo a jersey. "He thought the Flyers needed that," Gennett said. "And they definitely did." Philadelphia won that night against Anaheim to start a three-game winning streak.
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