Michigan woman from the U.P. wins 2025 NFL Fan of the Year from her love for the Lions

FOX 2 - Michigan woman Megan Stefanski was crowned the 2024 NFL Fan of the Year for her love of the Detroit Lions.

The big announcement came during the 2025 NFL Honors awards show on FOX, Thursday night.

Twenty-four hours after formally receiving her honor, FOX 2 caught up with Stefanski somewhere in downtown New Orleans.

"Right now, we’re on Royal Street," she said. "We’re ready to stop and play tourist - and chill in New Orleans."

And Stefanski was in good company. During a six-minute conversation over Zoom, she was joined by super fan — and former fan of the year — Ron "Crackman" Crachiola.

Then, random Lions fans crashed our interview and finally — other Detroit fans — including the International Fan of the Year — who’s from London.

FOX 2: "Are you guys ready to party this weekend and represent the Detroit Lions?"

All: "Heck yeah!"

The backstory:

Megan's father is late Lions super fan Donnie "Yooper Man" Stefanski, right.

But at the heart of this story is a daughter’s love for her late father.

Megan’s dad is Donnie "Yooper Man" Stefanski. FOX 2’s Ryan Ermanni spoke to him in 2018.

He drove to every Lions home game from his home in the Upper Peninsula until he died in 2019.

Megan keeps that tradition now. In fact, she travels to home and away games.

For a 1 p.m. home game, Megan leaves the UP at 2:30 a.m. drives five hours for the game — then five hours back afterwards. She also brought together Lions fans from around the state to raise more than $30,000 for charity this past year.

It’s that kind of dedication that got her recognized as the 2024 NFL Fan of the Year.

"It’s an honor to represent Detroit, the Upper Peninsula, the entire State of Michigan. It’s surreal," she said. "I still don’t believe it."

"It’s special," said Crachiola. "She told me yesterday. We heard about this and I was so happy for her, and I know her dad is smiling. It’s a huge honor."