TEEN GREEN SCENE
Jets help gal tackle task of finding a prom date
WHILE THEY had trouble hitting paydirt last season, the Jets have helped a Long Island high schooler score a prom date.
Sarah Kardonsky went the longest yard to get classmate Mike Pagano, a diehard Jets fan who suffers from autism, to go to the Division Avenue High School senior prom with her.
The crafty Levittown teen recruited nine Gang Green players for a 30-second “promposal” video.
But the story almost didn’t have a happy ending.
Pagano originally asked Kardonsky days ago to the big dance. She initially turned him down because she already had a date to the June soirée.
But after giving it some thought, Kardonsky reconsidered. Luckily, her original date was cool with the change of game plans.
“I talked to my other date who was OK with me doing this and I wanted to make it special for him (Pagano),” she said, explaining what set up the white-and-green twist.
Kardonsky reached out to Jets players on Instagram, and receiver Saalim Hakim was the first to jump onboard and got the ball rolling with his teammates.
Soon, players Shaquelle Evans, Dexter McDougle, Bilal Powell, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Leger Douzable, T.J. Barnes and Chris Owusu were recording cameos, each asking Pagano to take Kardonsky to the prom. She even got Pagano’s favorite player, Antonio Cromartie — who returned to the Jets last week after playing a season for the Arizona Cardinals — to go along with her special pitch.
“Hey, what’s going on Michael? It’s Antonio Cromartie of the New York Jets,” the star cornerback says in the video. “I have a quick question for you: Will you go to the prom with Sarah?”
Running back Powell and wide receiver Owusu knew a good catch when they saw it and both offered Pagano some unsolicited advice.
“I really think you should say yes!” Powell said in the video. “Say yes,” Owusu added. Kardonsky wrapped up the video appearing in a Jets T-shirt and saying, “Mike Pagano, I knew you’d say yes if I asked you to the prom, but I thought I’d ‘Jets’ ask.”
It turned out to be a promposal Pagano couldn’t refuse.
Pagano, wearing a Darrelle Revis No. 24 jersey, watched the video Kardonsky posted on Facebook with her and a classroom of pals. He said “yes” before it was even over, hugging his prom date as the room erupted in cheers.
“He had no idea what to say,” Kardonsky said Wednesday. “When Antonio Cromartie came on, he didn’t say anything, but you could just like tell . . . he went crazy.”
Kardonsky seemed both surprised and thankful at the response she got from the players. “They were all so sweet about it,” she said. Pagano took to Twitter to express his excitement over his reversal of fortune. “I like to thank @sahdonsky and all the @nyjets players that made this possible,” he tweeted. “I can’t tell you how blessed I am.”