Packers fan receives helmet after being denied autographed ball he won at 49ers event

UPDATE: The young fan has now received a special gift from Packers quarterback Jordan Love, along with gifts from 49ers fans who wanted to help make things right. Click here to read the story.

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (WLUK) — There may be some justice for a young Green Bay Packers fan who was denied an autographed football he won at a San Francisco 49ers tailgate party this weekend.

Video of the ordeal was shared hundreds of times on Facebook.

14-year-old Joseph De La Rosa and his brother Samuel Strom wanted to show their uncle, a 49ers fan, what Wisconsin hospitality is all about. But the day before the game, when they went to a 49ers party with their uncle, the experience for the brothers wasn’t what they had hoped for.

De La Rosa was selected as the winner of an autographed Christian McCaffrey football. As you might expect, this didn’t go over well in a bar full of Niners fans.

Rally organizers denied De La Rosa the ball. Instead, choose another person — a 49ers fan — to give the ball to.

“I felt embarrassed or judged and kind of ashamed,” said De La Rosa, an eighth-grader at Franklin Middle School in Green Bay.

“I was frustrated,” Strom said. “Just because we were wearing Packers gear, we couldn’t get the ball?”

Participation in the signed football competition was free. Fans simply had to register online.

According to The Niner Empire, the 49ers’ non-profit fan organization, The Niner Empire, hosted the event, but the team handled the gifts.

In the video, you can see how the person at the microphone appears to tell De La Rosa that he would give him something shortly.

“Instead of the ball, they initially gave him a pair of sunglasses, which everyone at the event received. Whoever came in got one of those 49ers sunglasses,” Strom said.

The brothers say at one point someone from the 49ers came by, took down their contact information and told them they would send them something else.

FOX 11 reached out to the 49ers to see if they would take action. After we interviewed De La Rosa, a team official sent us an email saying the team had sent out an autographed helmet. The helmet is signed by safety Talanoa Hufanga, not reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey.

“I really wanted the ball because I’m a big athlete,” De La Rosa said. “I like collecting things. I have other signed Packers balls. It would be great to get it.”

Ironically, De La Rosa wore a Grinch mask at the game. Unfortunately, this story doesn’t seem to end with him receiving the gift he was originally supposed to receive.