SALEM, N.H. — Georgette Cutress stayed up a few hours later than normal last Sunday night.
Not only was her favorite team – the New England Patriots – playing, but she had some extra skin in the game.
If the Patriots won, she’d score an “I Beat Burt” T-shirt.
Both things happened – she hit the exacta.
And get this: the 96-year-old just won her second T-shirt in two years.
“I told my daughter Dianna (Chamberlain), ‘I’m tied with Burt. If the Patriots win, I beat Burt,’” Cutress said.
We get all walks of life picking football winners every week the last 29 years. A few years ago, an 8-year-old girl from Methuen, Khloe Rios, won her first T-shirt.
A mother of six—though sadly, four of her five sons have passed away—Cutress, a Salem, N.H. resident, has three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Her first husband passed away in 1957 at age 47 from a heart attack. Her second husband died in 1998. Both were huge sports fans, too.
“I played softball when I worked at Hewlett-Packard. I also loved candlepin bowling. I had to stop bowling two years ago because of my leg—I didn’t want to fall,” the Lowell native said.
“My oldest son, David (Chamberlain), was the only one who didn’t play sports in our family. He was an artist, loved to draw. The rest of my children all played many sports. It was a lot of fun following them.”
Every Wednesday, Cutress cuts out the entry blank from the newspaper and usually makes her picks by Thursday. Her daughter Dianna mails in the entry on Friday.
Cutress isn’t just a pro football fan—she watches games all day Sunday, then Monday night, and even Thursday night, as long as she can stay awake. She’s also a former athlete.
She gets fired up, just like fans a quarter her age.
“I love football and I love baseball. I don’t love hockey, though,” she said. “I get upset sometimes when a quarterback holds the ball too long or a receiver drops a ball—especially when it’s the Patriots.”
Cutress said she started picking games last year, and now it’s become one of her favorite fall pastimes—trying to win a T-shirt.
“I always pick the Patriots—always,” Cutress said. “I could never root against them. And this year I’ve been right about them. I really like this team, and Drake Maye reminds me of a young Tom Brady.”
Her daughter Dianna, 75, who lives with her in Salem, N.H., said each week is an adventure.
Her mom also works as a volunteer for 3.5 hours every Tuesday at the Salem Senior Center thrift shop. She also goes to a “bone builder” class twice a week.
“She still is very active,” said her daughter, who played and coached tennis and softball. “Mom has a ball with the entire process—picking the games, seeing which picks are different, then checking the scores. She has everything written down. She was very excited about winning her T-shirt.”
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com