Spring Break
Flag football event draws NFL members
Lea Blevins, Daily Staff Writer
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What the members might not have realized is that they were the highlight of the event.
This was part of the NFL College Flag Football Championship Bash and included four games played by different types of teams. The intramural games were put on by sponsors to promote college athletics and the NFL.
Keena Turner, former San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker, and three 49ers cheerleaders came to SJSU's intramural fields to sign autographs and show their support for intramural sports.
"I think it shows the NFL cares about education and about community relations," said Tammy Bartlett, a third-season 49ers cheerleader.
Thursday's event, which drew about 175 people during peak times, was one of 32 being held at colleges across the country to match each NFL team with a school, said Mark Snyder, who helped organize all of the events. Snyder works for CMI, a division of Clear Channel Entertainment that was selected by the NFL to help implement and execute the program.
He said one of the main reasons the NFL elected to be included at the intramural flag football games was to give NFL sponsors more publicity.
"They want to get to the colleges," he said. "They want to give their primary sponsors more sight time."
Advertising wasn't the only reason for coming to SJSU. Getting more NFL fans from colleges is an added bonus, Snyder said.
"For the San Francisco 49ers to exist, they obviously need to start getting fans at the college level," he said. "It's just more exposure for the 49ers. You see they're working as much as they can with the people who are trying to help support them."
The flag football players and audience members said they appreciated the NFL coming to SJSU and thought it was a good way to draw attention to intramural sports.
"I think it's good because it brings out more people to come and watch and also let them know about intramural," said Cherish Watson, a graphic design sophomore who attended the event to watch her friends play. "Maybe more people will do it next year."
The 49ers cheerleaders said they were happy to come to SJSU to support intramural flag football. Despite this, not many people came up to them at first to say hello or to get an autograph, they said.
"They have a false image of us that we're not going to be friendly," said Nicole Dupler, a fourth-season cheerleader.
As the afternoon progressed into evening, more people went to talk to the people from the NFL.
"It's an honor just to be here and see everybody," said Claudia Ponce, a first-season cheerleader. "Everyone's so happy."
Ponce described the atmosphere of the event, where most people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Because the NFL was present on Thursday, a wider variety of people attended, said Rita Chandler, Associate Students intramural director who helped organize the event.
"We had a lot of people out here that we normally don't see," said Chandler. "I think everyone that was out here had a good time."
The players from each of the four games said they had a positive attitude, whether they won or lost. Playing the sport was the fun part, team members said.
Four games were played during the event which included a co-ed game, a fraternity game, a women's game and the championship game played by the fraternity winners and the intramural men's A-team.
The co-ed game was played by Kappa Delta Sorority and Delta Upsilon Fraternity against A.S. members.
Kellie Arnone from Kappa Delta said she enjoyed the game even though her team lost, especially since it was her first time playing co-ed after participating in women's flag football for three years.
"I think it's more fun than girls' because it's a little bit more competitive," said Arnone, a junior kinesiology major. "The guys get more into it."
Audience members said they enjoyed observing the different dynamics involved when men and women play together.
"They actually gave the ball to the girls," said Cassandra Maynard, a biological science sophomore.
The second game, played by members of fraternities Sigma Pi and Alpha Tau Omega, was won by Sigma Pi.
"They're a really good team," said Gino Borello, the captain of the Alpha Tau Omega team. "This is the second time we faced them. Both times they beat us."
Ivan Pehar, an Alpha Tau Omega senior, said intramural sports are a good way to stay active without worrying about the pressure of playing at the college level.
"We're just competitive," Pehar said. "It's our only chance to get to play sports because we're not in the Division I team. This is as competitive as it gets outside of that."
The women's game was played by Kappa Delta against Delta Gamma and Delta Zeta sororities. The women practiced on the side fields before running in to play the actual game.
"We're very competitive ladies," said Christina Vera, a liberal studies sophomore and member of Kappa Delta.
By the final game, the audience had thinned out and the NFL representatives left. Most of the audience members were players and people who organized the event.
The game was won 13-7 by BBC, the intramural men's A-team, against Sigma Pi, which was a surprise to some, players said.
"Coming into it, my friend told us, 'You guys are going to get smoked. Sigma Pi is really fast,'" said Ray Kellan, a photography junior from the BBC team. "No one thought we had a chance. We just came out there and played our asses off."
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