Jobless Father Of Two Bound For Jail, Turns Down $20k For Kearse Ball

If a $20,000 lottery ticket fell out of the sky and landed in the hands of an unemployed father of two who is going away to jail shortly, you would expect him to cash it in, right? That is basically the situation Scott Shelton finds himself in, and he has reportedly decided not to.

When Jermaine Kearse chucked the ball into the stands after scoring the game-winning touchdown in Sunday's NFC Championship Game, Shelton was the one who caught it. He said that a sports memorabilia dealer has already offered him $20,000 for the ball, but he planned to give it back to Kearse. He later indicated that he might instead save it for his son, but either way, the ball isn't for sale.

In other circumstances, not selling the ball would be a really cool thing to do. He could give it to Kearse, who called and offered a signed jersey and helmet for it, or give his son an amazing piece of Seahawks history. But Shelton is in pretty rough straits. Via KOMO:

Catching the famous football has given Shelton an emotional lift like nothing else in his life because it comes at a profoundly difficult time for the jobless father of two young children. His family says he's had a challenging life, including serious brushes with the law — even spending time behind bars as a juvenile and facing more next month.

If Shelton does end up going to the Super Bowl, he'll need to hurry back to Western Washington because at 2 p.m. the next day, his mother says a judge will take him into custody to start serving several months in jail.

He is literally going to jail for "several months" the day after the Super Bowl. Might it be wise to cash out and provide for his family while he's behind bars instead?

[ KOMO/ KIRO]