Less than 24 hours from the kickoff of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, fans were making their way to DFW or at least trying.
As snow, sleet and ice plagued the metroplex, many of the tens of thousands hoping to attend the College Football Playoff Semifinal had to reschedule travel or jump through hoops to cheer on the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Crews worked to treat and later clear roads around Arlington after sleet and freezing rain fell for hours Thursday.
Late in the day, Arlington Police said they’d responded to nearly two dozen major crashes, saying many heeded the warning to stay home and off the roads, or in the case of Cotton Bowl fans, near their hotels.
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Arlington’s entertainment district was filled with those who came in earlier than expected, moving flights or driving in a day early. For those who waited, Thursday was plagued by flight cancellations and delays after DFW and Dallas Love Field issued ground stops.
Mekka Don, a former Buckeyes player, was among those rerouted.
He said he left Ohio just before 6 a.m., flew to Detroit, was diverted from Dallas to Memphis and ended up back in Detroit.
“Finally by the time we landed, we had been on that plane for eight hours, literally eight hours. No food. Nobody was able to get off, you know, it was a mess, so we were all exhausted,” said Don.
12 hours later, he was finally on a flight headed into DFW. He said he knew several other former players and family members of current players struggling to make it in.
“If we can't get there, you know, a lot of the Buckeye fans don't necessarily live in Dallas or live in the Arlington area so a lot of us are traveling in, so that's absolutely going to affect turnout and, you know, probably in Texas's advantage,” he said.
Don is now a rapper who wrote a song played at Ohio State games. He had to cancel a performance scheduled for Thursday night.
