A local reverend's ticket to the upcoming National Football Conference was mistakenly shredded after asking his assistant to get rid of a stack of papers on his desk.

The tickets for the Sunday game at the Lambau Field with the Green Bay Packers were placed on the desk of wheelchair-bound Rev. Walter Hermanns, who had multiple sclerosis. Rev. Hermanns was getting some assistance from friend Andrew Duncan with tasks such as straightening out his home, as was the case Friday night.

Upon being asked by the reverend to shred the papers found in the trash bin, Duncan found the playoff tickets, took off the rubber band that bound them, and proceeded to place one in the shredder. He then paused, considering what it was he was doing.

"Something rang a bell and he said, 'Are you sure you want to shred these?'" Hermanns told The Examiner.

Apparently, the tickets were placed in the bin by the reverend's wife, Lynn Helmke, who did not expect the Packers to get to the playoffs. In order for that to happen the Dallas Cowboys would have to lose to the New York Giants - something that she was sure could not happen.

It did, during a game held just this Sunday. Hermann and Duncan proceeded to retrieve the shredded ticket and put the pieces in a plastic bag.

"She didn't realize the possibility - the slim possibility - that Dallas would lose," explained Hermann, who was left with three tickets.

Rev. Hermann called the Packers' ticketing office and explained what had happened. Luckily, he had purchased the tickets using his credit card, and had obtained them from a lottery for seats accessible to the handicapped.

"It almost sounded like they had heard crazy stories like this before," Hermann said, as quoted by The Journal Times.

Hermann got to replace the ticket, and was set to go to the Sunday game with his friend, his daughter and his daughter's boyfriend. Helmke had opted to watch the game in the warm comfort of their home.