A Sac City-native and United States Marine Corps Major, Adam Wellington, will be behind the controls of one of the jets in the military flyover at Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Sunday. The 37-year-old pilot graduated from Sac Community Schools in 2001 and joined the Marines after graduating from the University of Iowa in 2005. According to Wellington, four aircraft will be involved in the flyover.
Wellington started flying the F-35B in 2015. Prior to that, he flew the F-18 Hornet, including deployments to the Middle East in 2012 and 2014 and two, three-year deployments stationed in Japan. According to his mother, Annette Wellington of Sac City, her son has dreamed of becoming a pilot since elementary school, and everybody in the Wellington family is thrilled to see him fly on national television. Annette says the toughest part is her late husband and Adam’s father, Don, won’t be with them to watch the flyover.
Sunday’s flyover will occur prior to kickoff. Wellington and the other pilots will then land at a nearby airfield and head back to Hard Rock Stadium to hopefully catch the halftime show and second half of the game. He says being a part of the spectacle of the Super Bowl is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Wellington currently lives in South Carolina with his wife, Leslie, and their three children, six-year-old Evan, four-year-old Adeline and two-year-old Vincent. Pregame coverage begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2 on Fox with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Central Time.
