Local teen at Super Bowl after winning photo competition

Casey Berner has already won his Super Bowl.

While the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts square off on the field for the NFL title tonight, the Naperville native will be sitting in a seat at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, having earned the spot by winning a national photo competition.

Berner won Canon's "Why Do You Love Football Amateur Photo Contest" for a photo he took at a high-school football game in October. As part of his prize, he won four tickets to the game and the photo will be displayed for a year at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

"It's awesome and it's great," Berner said of his trip. "I was in shock."

A photojournalism major at the University of Missouri, Berner said he was most excited to have his winning picture on display - that is, until he was told that he would have a chance to hang out with Peter Read Miller, a highly regarded photographer with Sports Illustrated.

After voting closed on Jan. 8, Berner said, he had to sit through a stressful weekend of not knowing what had happened. But on Monday, Jan. 11, he received the call.

"It was a shock moment," he said. "I had some feelings that I had a shot at this, but with these voting things, you never really know."

In December, Berner was named one of seven finalists in the Adult Action category. The picture was taken during an Oct. 2 game between Naperville North and Naperville Central high schools. In it, a Central ball carrier is met midair by a North defender while a second defender sits in the background, having missed the tackle.

After learning he was a finalist, the college freshman implemented a game plan that included social networking. He posted links on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as his personal blog "that gets like 10 hits a day," he said.

Berner, 19, will take two friends from high school, including a friend he has had since first grade. With the fourth ticket, he said he will take his aunt Diane Berner. She lives in Pittsburgh and cares for Casey's grandmother, who Casey said is in the early stages of dementia.

"He's the best. He's just so talented," Diane said of her nephew. "For him to win the contest and ask me to go, it breaks my heart."

The Pittsburgh Steelers fan said the contest has really helped Casey deal with his relapsing polychondritis, a condition characterized by cartilage inflammation throughout his body. As part of his treatment, Casey often visits the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Diane said the fact Casey asked her to go shows his maturity.

"He knows the stress I go through every day and how hard it is on me every day," she said. "At 19 to realize that, wow. He's just an amazing guy."