Ryan Ferguson [beige shirt] is going to the Big Game. (GoldenTicket via CBS News)
Ryan Ferguson [beige shirt] is going to the Big Game. (GoldenTicket via CBS News)

Fourteen months ago, Ryan Ferguson was in prison, where he was in the middle of serving the 10th year of a 40-year sentence.

On Sunday, Ferguson will be at the Super Bowl thanks to a Texas businessman who heard his story.

So what is Ferguson's story?

Back in 2005, Ferguson was convicted in the murder of Kent Heitholt, a sports editor for the Columbia Tribune in Missouri. Ferguson's conviction came over four years after Heitholt was strangled to death in the parking lot where he worked. 

From the very beginning, there were lots of questions. Ferguson wasn't even considered a suspect until 2004 when a friend of Ferguson's, Chuck Erickson, told police the he and Ferguson had committed the crime, which took place in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2001. 

Erickson couldn't offer police many details and at one point even said that his memories of the crime were "dream-like," but police felt that was enough to arrest Ferguson, which they did in March 2004. 

After going to trial, Ferguson was found guilty and sentenced to 40-years in prison. The guilty verdict was based largely on testimony from two key witnesses: Erickson and a janitor at the newspaper where Heitholt worked. 

Ferguson would spend nine and a half years in prison before a court of appeals overturned his conviction. The reason the conviction was overturned? Both Erickson and the janitor admitted they had lied about witnessing Ferguson commit the crime. 

Texas businessman Ram Silverman caught wind of Ferguson's story after watching an episode of CBS News' "48 Hours." Silverman was so inspired by what he saw that he figured he had to do something. 

"He didn't seem like he had that bitter taste in his mouth like most people would," Silverman told 48 Hours' Crimesider. "I was just blown away by his attitude about moving on with his life."

Silverman, who runs a company called goldentickets.com, decided he wanted to give Ferguson the "Golden Ticket," so he offered to send Ferguson on an all-expense paid trip to Super Bowl XLIX.  

Ferguson accepted and is bringing his dad, Bill, to the game with him. Bill was one of the many people who never gave up on Ryan while he served his time in prison. 

"I started reading the police reports over and over," Bill told CNN about his actions while Ryan was in prison. "I made a timeline and flow chart of all the depositions. I started questioning people on my own, and I dug up a lot of witnesses."

As for Ryan, he's excited to be out of jail and going to the Big Game. 

"Going to the Super Bowl is obviously an incredible experience that was made possible by goldentickets.com but the fact that I'll be going with my father, a man who has now given me life twice, is what will truly make it special," Ryan Ferguson wrote in an e-mail to Crimesider. "I can't wait to have this weekend with him!"

You can see the "48 Hours" story on Ferguson below.