Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl at Kickoff Luncheon with NFL Hall-of-Famer Kellen Winslow
Monday, Dec 20
Jenna Laine reporting!
Today, the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl hosted the Kickoff Luncheon at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. We were in the presence of some real ‘A-listers’ including former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and honorary bowl chairman, Mike Alstott and NFL and College Football Hall-of-Famer, Kellen Winslow.
This morning the Mike Alstott Family Foundation, which includes Mike and his wife Nicole, along with players and cheerleaders from each team, visited the All Children’s Hospital to send well wishes to the young patients. The Alstott family continues to do so much for the Tampa Bay community. I had a few minutes to chat with him about some of his foundation’s newest projects.
Players enjoyed their trip to All Children's Hospital - a heartfelt visit.
During the luncheon, both of the coaches, Larry Fedora of Southern Miss, and Charlie Strong of Louisville, spoke to the teams.
Fedora remarked that Southern Miss’s football team is among the top 10 in graduation rates – an accomplishment to definitely be proud of! Charlie Strong spoke of how important his seniors were to the program after waiting four years to finally play in a bowl game. He said, “We are here because this year, 25 seniors decided to carry this team on their backs.”
Jenna interviewing Hall-of-Famer and Keynote Speaker Kellen Winslow
NFL Hall-of-Famers really ARE 'larger than life!'
Perhaps Kellen Winslow’s speech was the most moving of all. His words – “I am who you want to be…I am where I am because of the game of football and the opportunities presented to me.” He encouraged players on both teams to continue pursuing their educations because, “In life, you can’t pay with honors. You can’t write ‘All-Pro’ or ‘Hall of Fame’ in the line where it says payment. You have to write either ‘cash’ or ‘check,” Winslow said. He also spoke of accountability and how in his lone college bowl game, the 1978 Liberty Bowl, he and his teammates missed a pre-bowl practice and were forced to do a nausea-inducing number of ‘up-downs.’ Judging by the long line of autograph seekers that wrapped around the stage, his message was well-received.
Our bowl week video seemed to be well received too. The bowl week video producer, David, and our photographer, Frank, put together a video of our interviews from the first two days of bowl festivities and it was played at the luncheon on the big screen. I have to admit, though, knowing ESPN reporter Rob Stone was in the room watching made me a little nervous!
After the luncheon, the crew and I headed over to Battle of the Bands on St. Pete Beach at TradeWinds Island Resorts. Bands from both schools were in attendance. My favorite event was the Chicken Wing Eating Contest though, won by Southern Miss’s “The Pride of Mississippi Marching Band.”
Learn more about the title sponsor Beef ‘O’ Brady’s! They have a very cool web site!
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