For the USC football team, the trip down to San Diego for the 2015 Holiday Bowl was an easy one. Simply take the 110 to the 405 to the 5, and two short hours later arrive in the beautiful, oceanside city. For one Trojan however, the journey wasn't quite as simple. When USC redshirt sophomore tight end Connor Spears booked a flight home two days before Christmas to surprise his mom, he thought he'd be reunited with his team early on the 26th. Seventy hours and five flight cancellations later, the tight end was thankful to arrive safely in San Diego at all.
Spears' story begins on Christmas Eve when he surprised his mom at his home in Sioux City, Iowa by making it in time for the holiday (video below). After a pleasant and restful two days with his family and friends, the Trojan woke early on Saturday to catch his flight back to California. Originally scheduled to depart at 6 a.m. CT, his flight was delayed and delayed until ultimately cancelled. Nine hours after he was supposed to leave, Spears boarded a new flight headed for San Diego via layovers at the Dallas Fort Worth and Phoenix airports, and it's at this point that the tight end's adventure really began.
Stuck on the runway, his new flight to Dallas was then delayed, and, after a short time in the air, had to emergency land in Lubbock, Texas, due to a maintenance issue. Already several hours past his scheduled arrival in San Diego, Spears soon discovered that all flights were cancelled for the rest of the day due to the ever-worsening blizzard outside. With the promise of a new flight the next morning, Spears curled up with his backpack beneath a drinking fountain in the airport concourse.
Stirred awake at 3 a.m. by airport staff requesting he re-enter security, Spears gazed hopefully upon the giant departures sign in the terminal. His flight was scheduled to depart at 11 a.m., but due to the inclement weather the night before, the proper fixes hadn't been made to the plane and after another lengthy delay, this one totaling six hours, Spears' flight was finally cancelled (his third cancellation in 24 hours).
To make matters worse, if that's even possible during a three-day trek to California, Spears had no snow gear and no change of clothes. Having only packed for two days at home, the tight end had asked a teammate to bring his bowl week clothes down to San Diego ahead of his arrival. This previously smart decision to pack light left Spears with a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt, tennis shoes, flip flops, a computer and not much else. "Thankfully I brought a toothbrush," said Spears with a laugh. "But I didn't have much. I pretty much spent all my time watching Netflix. At one point I watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles which was kind of encouraging."
Faced with spending another night at the Lubbock airport, Spears befriended a fellow passenger who decided to book a hotel room for himself to avoid another night on the hard airport floor. Accepting a gracious offer to sleep in the room's second bed, Spears departed for the warmth of a hotel room and a better night's rest. After talking with his dad later that evening however, the Trojan realized he needed to make one more trip to the airport to rent a car in which he would drive to Albuquerque the following morning for a flight to San Diego.
Tired but hopeful for a solution, Spears braved the blizzard conditions outside, boarded an Uber and headed back to the airport in search of a rental car. Despite several companies' promises that they would be open for business, the tight end discovered empty desk after empty desk upon arrival. Faced with yet another road block on his journey, Spears felt frustrated and discouraged. He had maintained constant contact with the USC coaching staff as his travel plans became increasingly convoluted, but with cancellations and closures piling up, he worried he may not make it in time.
"I really didn't think I was going to make it to the game for awhile," Spears explained. "They just kept canceling flights for the entire day. It didn't look like I was going to get out of Texas any time soon."
With no Ubers on the road, Spears called the hotel to get a shuttle which would bring him back for the night. But to his dismay, the road conditions were too bad for even the shuttle driver. Adding to his struggles, after two days of cancellations, none of the food vendors inside the airport were open. Hungry and trapped inside by a blizzard, Spears' dad ordered delivery to the airport and the exhausted Trojan reluctantly hunkered in for another night's sleep at the Lubbock airport.
One day and two more flight cancellations later, Spears felt alone. No staff members appeared to help book a car or re-book a flight, and even if they had, the airport was closed for the entire day yet again. But the always-positive tight end refused to give up hope, befriending more fellow passengers, this time a local family (pictured above right), who would ultimately serve as Spears' much-needed rescuers.
Ever-resourceful, Spears booked a Greyhound ticket online to get to Albuquerque. The family originally was going to simply drop him at the station, but when they arrived, the station was closed. Facing yet another hurdle, Spears turned to the family for help. They invited him to join them as they drove to Denver to drop off their daughter, and soon the Trojan had a ticket booked from Denver to San Diego and was setting off for the eight-hour drive.
The roads were surprisingly clear according to Spears, who arrived safely in Denver on Monday evening. And while he finally boarded a flight bound for San Diego, the last leg of his trip wouldn't be complete without one final hiccup.
"My flight out of Denver was actually delayed about a half hour, just to add insult to injury," laughed an incredulous Spears. "But my flight landed around 12:15 a.m. and I was in bed at the hotel by one. Ultimately, I made it and that's what matters. All in all, from leaving my house in Iowa to arriving in San Diego, it took 70 hours."
Believe it or not, Spears said he would do it all over again if he had to. Despite the relentless stream of obstacles that filled his path back to California, his trip home, and the smile on his mom's face, was well worth it. And, as the tight end has discovered in the last day, it's normally the most tumultuous adventures that make for the best stories.
So excited that I was able to come home and surprise my Mom. Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/CcD7L3Cnhj
-- Connor Spears (@ConnorSpears) December 24, 2015 
