NCAAF

Bradley University student wins cameo in new Heisman House spot

Megan Gorecki in the new Nissan Heisman House ad.
Megan Gorecki (in yellow) appears in the new Nissan Heisman House ad. (ESPN)

Wednesday, during the Rose Bowl, ESPN debuted the final installment of the 2013 Nissan Heisman House campaign. The campaign, now in its third consecutive year, was created in collaboration with TBWA\Chiat\Day, OMD and ESPN’s in-house creative team, CreativeWorks.

The 30-second ad featured Heisman Trophy winners Tony Dorsett, Mike Rozier, Ron Dayne, Matt Leinart, Troy Smith as well as the Orange Bowl mascot Obie and the Fiesta Bowl mascot Spirit. Alongside the well-known personalities, the spot included Megan Gorecki, a sports communications student from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.

Gorecki was featured in the spot — as a member of the Heisman Trophy heroes’ “courts” — thanks to winning a sweepstakes ESPN created in concert with Nissan USA, TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles and OMD a year ago.

Front Row spoke with Gorecki, who appears wearing a glamorous, yellow gown in the spot, about her cameo.

What was your favorite part of this experience?
The fact I was in the presence of such superb athletes and got to meet them in person! As a fan, it was awesome just to be able to hang out with the players and watch the younger ones crowd around the Xbox and play NCAA or Madden just like regular college students. Additionally, the producers from ESPN found out I was an aspiring sports reporter, so they gave me the job of preparing questions to ask any of the Heisman winners during their off time. It was like I was living my dream.

How long did it take to film the spot?
It took about four hours. We got to the set directly from the airport and I was whisked away into wardrobe, hair and makeup. I was not expecting to be dressed up like a princess! I thought I’d just stand in the background with a jersey on and maybe a football in tow, but ESPN and the producers were much more hands on. They gave me a lot of opportunities for camera work and were extremely kind to me.

Any fun behind-the-scenes anecdotes?
The second day of filming was also Matt Leinart’s birthday. Since mine was the day before, they asked me to assist in carrying the cake to Matt, lighting all the candles and singing him “Happy Birthday.” He was so surprised and it was something that was really awesome to share with him.

Back to top button