As every flight in the United States was grounded for the longest period since September 11, it caused chaos for sports teams and schedules around the world – and one high-profile Aussie found himself in the mix.
St Kilda Hall of Famer and former AFL player Peter Everitt headed to Iowa to watch his son – Boston Everitt – play for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Peter Everitt (center) hitched a ride from Denver to Des Moines, Iowa to watch his son play. The Athletic
But after his flight to Denver was delayed and then cancelled due to the nationwide grounding, the 6-foot-8 AFL icon found himself crammed in the back of a car for the 14-hour car journey to make it in time to see his son play.
“This is typical of him for something like that … trouble finds him,” Peter’s wife, Sheree, said on Sunday morning.
Everitt – also known as “Spida” – played for the St Kilda, Hawthorn and Sydney, having amassed 291 games over his career from 1993 to 2008.
After his shift on Friday as a Triple M presenter, Peter flew from Brisbane to San Francisco and then Denver without incident.
But by Saturday AEDT, he joined thousands of others stranded on the tarmac.
“The pilot goes, ‘We’ve all got to get off the plane’,” Everitt said.
“Don’t ask questions because I know as much as you guys.”
As his flight was cancelled, Everitt started to look at possible arrangements in case no flights made it out of Denver, while his wife contacted people to help with travel contingencies.
Sheree was already in Iowa City when Peter planned a quick weekend trip, which was supposed to last 36 hours before heading back home.
His wife sent a note on social media asking if anyone was interested in “a nice night drive to Iowa City, look me up.”
Within minutes, a person she had met at a previous Iowa tailgate reached out, saying some friends of friends knew two women who rented a car and were planning to drive to Iowa.
“I just ring (Peter)…‘there’s a lady in the car park’,” Sheree said.
“He’s like, ‘Who?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know’.”
“It was epic,” Peter said to The Athletic, who updated his moves on social media.
“It was planes, trains, automobiles, a bus and two girls from Burlington in a tiny Hertz rental car.”
He ended up in the car headed to Burlington with two strangers, sisters Danielle Chickenn and Lacy Hawkins, and after 40 hours, made it to Iowa in time to watch his son play Purdue.
More than a million passengers across the United States were impacted by the decision by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) including Iowa’s opponent, Purdue, who made the nearly 500 kilometre trek via bus to play on Sunday (AEDT).