Aaron Jones now has a name to go with the photo that went viral on Twitter. Nancee Lingg, 82, is a grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of nine who was traveling from Harlingen, Texas, to Appleton, Wisconsin, when her path randomly crossed with the Packers running back.
Lingg didn’t realize Jones played in the NFL. Her daughter-in-law, Jackie Lingg, thought Jones worked at the airport as he wheeled Nancee Lingg to the waiting family.
“My mom thought he worked for the airlines, which is pretty funny,” Teresa Lingg, Nancee’s granddaughter, said, via Wes Hodkiewicz of the team website. “It was really cool. He seems like a standup guy. My mom and grandma both said, ‘He must have been raised very well.’”
Nancee’s husband of 61 years died in February, and the Lingg family will travel to Texas for his memorial service this weekend.
Jones, meanwhile, now knows the name of his biggest fan.
“I’ll tell you, it brings a big smile to my face when it comes across my phone,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I’m thankful that everybody else is getting to see what I get to see pretty much every day. This is a tremendous locker room. We’ve been very fortunate and blessed with the caliber of character that we have in our locker room. So when things like that are expressed, especially on social media, it brings a smile to my face.
“I’m sure obviously he probably didn’t even know someone took that picture. That’s just the type of guy he is.”