Punt, Pass, and Kick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Punt, pass and kick (PP&K) is a skills competition offered by the National Football League and designed for youths aged 8 to 15.
PP&K began in 1961 and at one time, event highlights were shown by CBS Sports as part of its NFL coverage. The contest received renewed attention in 1992 when Kendra Wecker, a 10-year-old girl from Kansas, made the finals in her age group and competed on an equal basis with male competitors. Wecker would later become an All-American in basketball at Kansas State University and plays in the Women's National Basketball Association. PP&K now offers separate competition for boys and girls in four different age groups.
Winners in each age group are determined by the total distance of their punts, passes, and kicks, as the name implies. Scott Hopwood won one year, and he was published in the November 1978 edition of National Geographic World.
The national finals competition involves one contestant from each age group sponsored by each of the NFL's 32 teams. Those contestants have already won local and sectional qualifiers to advance to that point.
The finalists are announced during a commercial break during the NFL playoffs each year.
The program received much attention in January of 2008 when Anna Grant, the national winner in the girl's 14/15 age group was classlessly booed by the fans of the Indianapolis Colts. Grant, of Stratham, New Hampshire, was wearing the jersey of the Colts' arch-rival New England Patriots, eliciting boos from some in attendance while being introduced with the other national winners during Indy's loss to the San Diego Chargers. Miss Grant got the last laugh, however, as she was invited by the New England Patriots' ownership to the AFC Championship Game the next weekend and was on the field for the coin toss--finally getting the cheers she had earned. The Colts were not in attendance at that game.
