From 15 To Forever
September 09, 2022 | Football
STARKVILLE – Tensions were high during a two-plus hour lightning delay during Mississippi State's season opening football game against Memphis this past Saturday.
Most of the uncertainty centered on when the Bulldogs and Tigers would be able to resume their matchup and play the final three quarters. But quarterback Chance Lovertich may have been the most nervous man in Davis Wade Stadium.
Lovertich had an elaborate postgame wedding proposal planned for his longtime girlfriend, Macey Abraham, and invited numerous friends and family to the game to witness the long-awaited proposition.
"I was really nervous when the lightning delays were happening because I didn't know when the game was going to end," Lovertich said. "She was texting me (in the locker room) saying that she was ready to go. That was really the only thing stressing me out."
Lovertich and his surrounding supporters in the Gridiron Club were able to convince Abraham to stick around under the ruse of taking photos on the field after the game, which ultimately ended around midnight.
"Leading up to it, I'd been telling her that it was my last year to play and that we needed to take some good pictures on the field since we didn't take any last year," Lovertich said.
After a brief team meeting in the locker room, Lovertich returned to the field and led Abraham through the gate and into the north end zone. That's also when Abraham began to get suspicious.
"When he kept walking out onto the field, that's when I put everything together," Abraham said.
Lovertich, with the help of MSU associate A.D. of football administration Brittany Thackery, had the rest planned out. The graduate signal caller from Brandon pulled out a ring and took a knee in the end zone with his proposal displayed on each jumbotron screen in the stadium.
The answer from Abraham was a resounding "Yes!".
"He was very, very, very successful in surprising me," Abraham said. "I had no idea it was coming. Even if I had known it was coming, I'd never have expected it to have gone down like it did. He definitely hit the nail on the head with that one."
Looking back on the wild series of events leading up to the proposal, Lovertich admitted that he thought about leaving the locker room during the lightning delay and popping the question then and there. After all, there was no putting it off until the Bulldogs' next home game against Bowling Green on Sept. 24.
"There was no delaying it because I'd had so many friends come from out of town and so much family here," Lovertich said. "The only real question was how late I was going to do it."
There was also the matter of keeping Abraham in the stands through the duration of the late game in order to pull the whole plan off without any more hitches.
"I was thinking about leaving the game after all of the delays," Abraham said. "Thank goodness I didn't. I'm very, very glad I didn't leave. I don't know what he would have done if I had."
HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS
When Lovertich transferred to Jackson Prep for his sophomore year, one of the first people he met was Abraham.
And if it wasn't love at first sight, it certainly came soon for the 15-year-olds.
"It's kind of weird to say but things just instantly clicked and we started dating pretty soon thereafter and have been dating ever since," Lovertich said.
Although Abraham and Lovertich both attended Mississippi State, they did so at different times. Abraham went to school in Starkville for her freshman and sophomore years before finishing her nursing degree in Jackson. Meanwhile, Lovertich started his college career at Gulf Coast Community College and then went onto South Alabama. He didn't transfer to MSU until 2021, after Abraham had already left.
LONG-TERM PLANNING AND SAGE ADVICE
Lovertich made the decision to ask for Abraham's hand back during the spring and spent the summer planning out his proposal with Thackery's help.
"One of my big things was that I really wanted to surprise her," Lovertich said. "She really didn't have any idea, so I think I surprised her."
While the timing of the proposal may have been a shock to Abraham, she certainly expected Lovertich to pop the question sooner or later after dating for seven years. Â
"I've definitely been hinting at it for a while," Abraham said. "But I honestly didn't think it would happen during football. I thought it might happen by the end of this year, but I thought football season would be out of the question because he's so busy."
By the time Lovertich got down on one knee in the end zone, he had a peace about the proposal. But after being together for so long, it was simply time to take their relationship to the next level.
"I feel like it's been a long time coming for sure," Lovertich said. "We've been together for a long time. It was just time and thankfully she said yes to me."
The newly engaged couple have not set a date yet but received some sage guidance from MSU head coach Mike Leach on the subject as only he could offer.
"My first advice would be to elope, just eliminate all the family input, aggravation and constant change of course that comes with planning weddings and anxiety and pressure that almost drives people to divorce before they even start," Leach said. "The second would be if you're not going to elope, let's get it done certainly by the off week and you can honeymoon it up a little bit. But once you've made the decision, you've got to make that deal in play.
"The other thing is to continue hanging out with your friends and pursue all the interests and things that she fell in love with and you fell in love with because there's nothing worse than two people who get married that try to act all domesticated because they think that's how married couples and old people behave," Leach said. "It's the most bogus, boring stuff ever and it's very disturbing so hopefully they don't resort or stoop to that vicariously or gravitate to that direction because others do."
Most of the uncertainty centered on when the Bulldogs and Tigers would be able to resume their matchup and play the final three quarters. But quarterback Chance Lovertich may have been the most nervous man in Davis Wade Stadium.
Lovertich had an elaborate postgame wedding proposal planned for his longtime girlfriend, Macey Abraham, and invited numerous friends and family to the game to witness the long-awaited proposition.
"I was really nervous when the lightning delays were happening because I didn't know when the game was going to end," Lovertich said. "She was texting me (in the locker room) saying that she was ready to go. That was really the only thing stressing me out."
Lovertich and his surrounding supporters in the Gridiron Club were able to convince Abraham to stick around under the ruse of taking photos on the field after the game, which ultimately ended around midnight.
"Leading up to it, I'd been telling her that it was my last year to play and that we needed to take some good pictures on the field since we didn't take any last year," Lovertich said.
After a brief team meeting in the locker room, Lovertich returned to the field and led Abraham through the gate and into the north end zone. That's also when Abraham began to get suspicious.
"When he kept walking out onto the field, that's when I put everything together," Abraham said.
Lovertich, with the help of MSU associate A.D. of football administration Brittany Thackery, had the rest planned out. The graduate signal caller from Brandon pulled out a ring and took a knee in the end zone with his proposal displayed on each jumbotron screen in the stadium.
The answer from Abraham was a resounding "Yes!".
"He was very, very, very successful in surprising me," Abraham said. "I had no idea it was coming. Even if I had known it was coming, I'd never have expected it to have gone down like it did. He definitely hit the nail on the head with that one."
Looking back on the wild series of events leading up to the proposal, Lovertich admitted that he thought about leaving the locker room during the lightning delay and popping the question then and there. After all, there was no putting it off until the Bulldogs' next home game against Bowling Green on Sept. 24.
"There was no delaying it because I'd had so many friends come from out of town and so much family here," Lovertich said. "The only real question was how late I was going to do it."
There was also the matter of keeping Abraham in the stands through the duration of the late game in order to pull the whole plan off without any more hitches.
"I was thinking about leaving the game after all of the delays," Abraham said. "Thank goodness I didn't. I'm very, very glad I didn't leave. I don't know what he would have done if I had."
HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS
When Lovertich transferred to Jackson Prep for his sophomore year, one of the first people he met was Abraham.
And if it wasn't love at first sight, it certainly came soon for the 15-year-olds.
"It's kind of weird to say but things just instantly clicked and we started dating pretty soon thereafter and have been dating ever since," Lovertich said.
Although Abraham and Lovertich both attended Mississippi State, they did so at different times. Abraham went to school in Starkville for her freshman and sophomore years before finishing her nursing degree in Jackson. Meanwhile, Lovertich started his college career at Gulf Coast Community College and then went onto South Alabama. He didn't transfer to MSU until 2021, after Abraham had already left.
LONG-TERM PLANNING AND SAGE ADVICE
Lovertich made the decision to ask for Abraham's hand back during the spring and spent the summer planning out his proposal with Thackery's help.
"One of my big things was that I really wanted to surprise her," Lovertich said. "She really didn't have any idea, so I think I surprised her."
While the timing of the proposal may have been a shock to Abraham, she certainly expected Lovertich to pop the question sooner or later after dating for seven years. Â
"I've definitely been hinting at it for a while," Abraham said. "But I honestly didn't think it would happen during football. I thought it might happen by the end of this year, but I thought football season would be out of the question because he's so busy."
By the time Lovertich got down on one knee in the end zone, he had a peace about the proposal. But after being together for so long, it was simply time to take their relationship to the next level.
"I feel like it's been a long time coming for sure," Lovertich said. "We've been together for a long time. It was just time and thankfully she said yes to me."
The newly engaged couple have not set a date yet but received some sage guidance from MSU head coach Mike Leach on the subject as only he could offer.
"My first advice would be to elope, just eliminate all the family input, aggravation and constant change of course that comes with planning weddings and anxiety and pressure that almost drives people to divorce before they even start," Leach said. "The second would be if you're not going to elope, let's get it done certainly by the off week and you can honeymoon it up a little bit. But once you've made the decision, you've got to make that deal in play.
"The other thing is to continue hanging out with your friends and pursue all the interests and things that she fell in love with and you fell in love with because there's nothing worse than two people who get married that try to act all domesticated because they think that's how married couples and old people behave," Leach said. "It's the most bogus, boring stuff ever and it's very disturbing so hopefully they don't resort or stoop to that vicariously or gravitate to that direction because others do."
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