Mosinee teen wears Green Bay Packers suit to prom as tribute to his late grandfathers
Jamie Rokus
MOSINEE – Jayson Goetz knew he wanted his suit to stand out during his junior prom on Saturday at Mosinee High School.
He and a group of friends from the school, about 15 miles south of Wausau in central Wisconsin, had discussed wearing something outside the norm for prom. Jayson hit the internet in search of the perfect formal wear.
What he landed on was a forest green suit jacket emblazoned with Green Bay Packers logos and “PACKERS” spelled out in white and gold, a matching bow tie and bright yellow pants to match.
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His mom, Michele Goetz, found the ensemble on Amazon.com.
Jayson, 17, grew up in Mosinee and participates in basketball, football and track at the high school.
He said the prom attire was a tribute to his late grandfathers — Mike Goetz and Phil Riedel, both of Mosinee — who died in 2017.
“They were both huge Packer fans and I wanted to honor them,” he said.
Jayson said he remembers watching many Packers games with his grandpas, including whenever they would play on Thanksgiving Day.
The most memorable game he watched was with his Grandpa Mike on Jan. 15, 2017. His grandpa was in hospice care, and Green Bay kicker Mason Crosby scored a 51-yard field goal as time expired to win the game 34-31 over the Dallas Cowboys.
Grandpa Mike died about two weeks later.
“I wish they both would have seen (the suit),” Jayson said. “I think they both would have laughed. They would have loved it.”
Michele said she was unsure of her son’s plans at first, but grew to love the idea.
“I had no idea what he was doing when he first told me about it,” she said. “I probably tried to talk him out of it at first. I didn’t know what he was getting into.
“Then he told me why he wanted to wear it.”
Jayson attended prom with a large group of friends. They took “lots of photos,” went to dinner, attended the dance and then went bowling.
“It was one of the greatest nights of my life,” Jayson said. “I wish I could relive it a hundred times.”