Mystery Man Plans Super Bowl Proposal

Jan. 10, 2007 — -- It seems that people just can't drop to one knee and pop the question anymore.

Case in point: A mystery man wants to ask his girlfriend to marry him during the Super Bowl.

Calling the proposal "the most public declaration of love in the history of mankind," the mystery man says he needs financial help to pull off the stunt.

He originally planned to buy commercial time during the game, which runs about $2.5 million per spot. To raise the money, he created a Web site at the end of August called "My Super Proposal" at mysuperproposal.com, where he asked for donations to the cause.

"Around November, I realized that was going to be a long climb. … And I raised about $75,000 to that point," he told "Good Morning America."

Why the Super Bowl?

The mystery man donated the $75,000 to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., after he realized he would never raise $2.5 million in time.

On the site, a man involved in advertising e-mailed him and convinced him that he needed to find a company that would sponsor the proposal and pay for the ad time.

But why propose during the Super Bowl?

"It seems like a crazy pipe dream idea. … It's something that's romantic," he said. "I was talking to someone recently about why there's a lot of public proposals, and I think there's a component of it that tries to gain acceptance."

"Years ago, you had to ask for permission, and now you don't," he said. "And there's also something about doing something so big and showing people that you love."