He calls it a "dream come true."
Terry Fator, winner of the second season of "America's Got Talent," sang the national anthem at Sunday's Dallas Cowboys game against the Detroit Lions.
Soaking it all in, Fator rehearsed the song before the game with his wife by his side.
It was the comic ventriloquist and impressionist's first visit to Cowboys Stadium. And he arrived without the puppets he uses in his show at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
Fator said his clean sound check on the Cowboys star on the field made him giddy. He has sung the national anthem at other several professional sports events, but this one was the ultimate.
"That's so spectacular," Fator said, staring at the video board above the field. "My skin is prickling. I can feel the goose bumps."
Fator got Sunday's anthem job after begging team owner Jerry Jones for the opportunity in a interview last summer.
Fator, who is from Mesquite, said he is a lifelong Cowboys fan. And he's learned a lesson from getting this gig.
"When you want something, you look at the camera and say, 'I want that,'" he said.
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When it came time for the pre-game show, Fator himself was starstruck when he spotted NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, who was honored at the game.
Fator then got to meet the man who made his dream come true.
"This is the pinnacle, so thank you," Fator told Jones.
"Proud of you," Jones said, adding that he had read good things about Fator.
And then came the moment Fator had been waiting for -- he belted out the "Star Spangled Banner" in front of close to 100,000 fans.
"It was everything I dreamed it ever could be," he said. "It was amazing, I mean, amazing."
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