Couple caps crazy year with memorable proposal/engagement at Lambeau Field

Lambeau Field in Wisconsin is hallowed ground to football fans, most notably the ones of the NFL team that calls it home, the Green Bay Packers.

As of Nov. 23, Lambeau also holds a special place in the hearts of former Lebanon High basketball player Evan Zimmerman and his fiancée, Sarah Mattis.

As part of a birthday gift for Zimmerman’s father, Brian, Eagles fan Mattis accepted Steeler fan Zimmerman’s marriage proposal on the turf of Lambeau as an added attraction to the Packers’ matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.

Among those in attendance to witness Zimmerman’s proposal was Packers superstar linebacker Micah Parsons, a friend of Evan and his father, who both coached Micah during his AAU basketball career. Micah and his mother, Sherese, helped plan Evan’s popping of the question during a dinner the night before the game.

“The proposal originated just as Packers tickets as a birthday gift for my father,” Zimmerman said. “After talking with my parents we decided we could turn it into something even more special. Micah was extremely gracious in helping us out with field passes and tickets to his family suite.

“I knew I wanted to propose down on the field but didn’t quite know exactly how it was going to happen until we had dinner the night before with Micah. I was able to pull him aside and get the plans finalized last minute.”

Zimmerman said Micah’s mother was another unsung hero of the proposal and helped orchestrate everything on game day.

“The whole family is as genuine as they come,” he said.

The person who needed to come through the most in order to make the whole weekend a success was Sarah, who met Evan two years ago at Atlas, a bar in Myrtle Beach. She moved to Myrtle Beach in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic to be closer to her parents and is employed as a litigation paralegal.

Evan became a Myrtle Beach resident in 2033 and is a certified flight instructor working out of Myrtle Beach International Airport.

“I actually am an Eagles fan,” Mattis said. “It’s Evan’s least favorite trait of mine since he’s a Steelers fan. His dad and his grandfather are some of the biggest Packers fans, so I just say I’m a Packers fan by association. When, of course, they’re not playing the Eagles.

“Evan’s proposal was the cherry on top of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s something I will cherish forever and I know he will, too.”

Mattis said that it blew her mind that everyone also seemed to be in on it, too, and that she was genuinely suprised.

“There are so many people who helped facilitate Evan’s proposal and I am so appreciative of everyone’s assistance in pulling it off,” she said.

Certainly all in attendance were grateful for the presence of Brian Zimmerman, who suffered a medical emergency last January that had Evan and Sarah scrambling back to Pennsylvania to be by his side.

Fast-forward to November, and the entire family was living out a dream at the end of a year that began as a full-fledged nightmare. Some things are simply meant to be, apparently. This, happily for all involved, appears to be one of them.

“It was one of those ‘drop everything and get here now’ situations,” Mattis recalled.

Complicating matters was a rare snowstorm that hit Myrtle Beach as they were preparing to drive back to Pennsylvania. That plan was soon dashed when the couple was hit by another driver, forcing them to quickly grab a flight home to Pennsylvania to be by Brian’s side.

“A couple weeks in the ICU and months of rehabilitation later and the whole first part of the year felt like a fever dream,” Sarah recalled. “Add to that the stress of work and flight school obligations and this has been one year we don’t wish to repeat.”

Except for maybe one magical weekend in Green Bay in November.

“January us would have never expected November us to be going to a Packers game at Lambeau to watch Micah Parsons play,” Mattis said. “We’re even more appreciative of the time we get to spend together now.”