Uber driver Ryan Long racked up 16 consecutive wins on Jeopardy! earlier this year, and his hometown is literally rolling out a tribute to the local champ. Over the weekend, a Philadelphia news station surprised Long and his nine-year-old son, Nathan, by letting him know that the Jeopardy! champ will have his very own float in the 6ABC Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade. The father and son were ecstatic at the news of getting to be a part of the beloved local tradition. (Also, yes, Philly has its own Thanksgiving parade. They’re a major metropolitan city too, pal.)
Via The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“Wait, we’re going to be in the parade on a float?” Nathan said. “Oh my goodness, this is my greatest childhood dream.”
Long, who attended the annual parade as a child, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be in the event, and said he is looking forward to seeing Nathan’s reaction.
“I’ll be watching his face,” Long said. “It should be a good moment. I’ll be watching him and he’ll be watching Santa.”
After his impressive winning streak ended in June, Long tweeted out an inspirational message to all of the fans he gathered along the way and urged everyone to never give up on their dreams.
“For the longest time, I didn’t believe that a person could really break out of that box,” Long tweeted about making the surprising leap from Uber driver to Jeopardy! champ. “But I feel like this thing that just happened is proof that you can. Trust yourself, hold on to your dreams, you know who you really are. Take your shot, and don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do this or that, or you should be doing things a certain way. As my grandmom would’ve said, never let ANYBODY steal your shine.”