Looking Back on Mike & Sarah's Prom Night

The Great Jets PromPosal story is now in the history books, and a great time was had by both Mike Pagano and Sarah Kardonsky of Levittown, NY., at the Division Avenue High School Prom on Friday night.

"There was never a dull moment," Mike texted newyorkjets.com over the weekend. "I had such a great time with Sarah and the rest of my classmates. She was the best prom date anyone could ever have, and she'll say the same about me."

"Prom was a hundred times better than I expected it to be!" Sarah texted. "What me and Mike loved the most about it was it wasn't a night just for us or just about us, we got to spend it with some really great friends!"

Not to mention some new-found acquaintances in green and white who were cheering them on.

By now Jets fans have heard the story about longtime friends Mike, who has high functioning autism, and Sarah. Mike asked Sarah to the prom. Sarah initially said no because she already had a date.

Then Sarah changed things up and, knowing Mike was a rabid Jets fan, contacted players on the team via social media.

"I reached out to Saalim Hakim and he answered," she said, "so then I reached out to more players."

By the time she was done, nine Jets — T.J. Barnes, Antonio Cromartie, Leger Douzable, Shaq Evans, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Dexter McDougle, Chris Owusu, Bilal Powell and Hakim — had recorded messages asking Mike, "Will you go to the prom with Sarah?" She produced a video and presented it to Mike on March 25. That was the couple's surprise No. 1. And no surprise, he said yes.

There followed appearances on Good Morning America, The Ellen Degeneres Show — where head coach Todd Bowles presented his own video message — and a Friday drop-in at Sarah's house by Steve Overmyer and a CBS 2 crew as she got ready for the prom.

Two days before, Mike unveiled the couple's surprise No. 2 by meeting Sarah at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center to watch the team's minicamp practice from the sideline.

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"Yeah, I knew about the invitation to come to practice," Mike said. "I've been a Jets fans since I was 7 years old — Pennington, Chrebet, Martin, Santana Moss."

"I just found out about it last week," Sarah said. "I considered myself a New York fan but I never really watched sports. Now I've gone from loving the Jets to, like, loving them. They're not just good players but good people, going out of their way and helping."

After the hype, it was finally time for the big night. At the prom, both agreed that Mike danced up a storm.

Mike: "I was heavily involved on the dance floor and even did a crowd surf."

Sarah: "I've never seen the kid move so much in his life!"

And now it's on to graduation and the summer and the rest of their lives. But the Jets fans part of this story will linger a little longer, as the two will receive pregame sideline passes for a game in the 2015 season.

Wrapping up the PromPosal storyline, Mike texted: "It was a great experience and I'm blessed to be surrounded by a great group of people."

And Sarah added: "I'm so sad it's over but I am so happy Mike had the time of his life. Now all I need is to get Derek Jeter for Michael! His ALL TIME FAVORITE! I better get back to work!"