This football punter proposed to his girlfriend at halftime in the most adorable way

Ohio State football player Drue Chrisman put a lot of effort into planning out the perfect marriage proposal. Once he knew how he wanted to do it, he had to figure out a way to get his girlfriend onto the field at halftime — in front of cameras and a stadium full of fans — without suspecting a thing. So he certainly had his work cut out for him.

But thanks to the help of his teammates, he was able to come up with a believable story that his girlfriend, Avery Eliason, would go along with.

“We told them we were going to have a kicking competition for the girlfriends of the kickers to see if they could kick, too,” Chrisman told The Columbus Dispatch. “So she had no idea.”

When Eliason walked out onto the field, Chrisman was already on one knee — which made sense, as he had to hold the ball for her to kick. But instead of allowing her to follow through with her kick, he took advantage of his bended knee position and proposed to her on the spot.

The sweet, special moment was caught on video, and you can see the clip on Eliason’s Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwNgWeogQcq/

Chrisman said he thinks his girlfriend was surprised — and also relieved.

“So, she just walked out there thinking she was going to have to kick a ball, and honestly I think she was more relieved that she didn’t have to kick a ball when she actually got proposed to,” he joked with The Columbus Dispatch in an interview:

And he had to admit he felt a lot “lighter” after popping the question, too — especially since she said yes!

As soon as Eliason accepted Chrisman’s proposal, the couple hugged and the team rushed out to congratulate them. The photos that capture these moments were shared on the Ohio State Football Twitter account, and they’re absolutely beautiful:

When Eliason found out what went into planning this special moment, she took to Twitter to express just how grateful she was.

“It warmed my heart when I found out how many people were involved in making this happen. So so thankful,” she wrote in a tweet:

https://twitter.com/averyanne33/status/1117186238560317446

In an interview with Eleven Warriors, Eliason also said that the amount of love and support they’ve been feeling is incredible:

“Been just feeling so much love from not only Drue but from everybody, family and friends, and Buckeye Nation has just been so wonderful. Our hearts are so full.”

Chrisman told The Columbus Dispatch that he and Eliason have been dating for about a year, but they’ve known each other their whole lives.

“I’ve known her my whole life, actually,” he said. “She was my neighbor growing up, so I finally got out of the friend zone.”

And now, they’ll spend the rest of their lives together. Congratulations to the happy couple!