Finalists Named in Search for Greatest Interception

, December 17, 2007

Online Voting to Pick Winners of Cash, Prizes And Donations To High School or Youth Football Programs

An elite panel of judges including former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and star New England linebacker Rosevelt Colvin has selected eight finalists in the UPS Delivery Intercept Challenge Video Contest.

The eight advance to the UPS Delivery Intercept Challenge Bowl, in which online voting will crown the winners in the search for the nation's best amateur interceptions of all time. Today through Jan. 4, the public can go to www.ups.com/challenge to view the videos and vote for their favorites. Winners will be announced Jan. 9.

Those who submitted the eight finalist videos are competing for the grand prize of $25,000 in cash, a $10,000 donation to their favorite high school or youth football program and a tailgate party with Manning. Second- and third-prize winners, and the five remaining finalists, all will snag cash prizes and the opportunity to steer donations to their favorite football programs.

The finalists – two from each of the contest's four quarters – were selected from among 176 highlight-reel interception videos submitted from all over the country from July 30 through Dec. 3.

"Picking the top eight was a real challenge," Manning said. "I was really impressed by the level of athleticism shown by all of these young athletes, from high school right down to the little guys. And it was great to see and hear the enthusiasm displayed by the players and also by their parents, many of whom could be heard yelling from behind the camera."

"I hope everyone will take a few minutes to go to the site to view these videos and cast their votes," Colvin said. "I think they'll really enjoy the videos, and they have an opportunity to help decide which submitters and teams will take home the top prizes. It's going to be a tough choice."

Along with Manning and Colvin, the judges included Joe Bouffard and Joe Galat. Bouffard has coaching experience at the youth, high school and college football level and is the director of Youth Football USA, which boasts a membership of nearly 30,000 coaches, administrators, players, parents and volunteers. Galat, a former college and professional football coach and broadcaster who starred at Miami University (Ohio), is currently president of American Youth Football and Cheer, which operates in all 50 states and has more than 400,000 members.

Here are the eight finalists, including the descriptions submitters included with their entries:

FIRST QUARTER (Videos submitted from July 30 through Sept. 3):

• Keller High School. Keller, Texas. Annual girls powder puff football game. The juniors were behind the seniors going into the last 30 seconds of the game. Alyssa stepped in and picked up the game-winning interception. Juniors won! Submitted by Lee Kirby, Keller, Texas.
• Butte Pirates. Arco, Idaho. With two minutes left in the game and the score tied at 6-6, Brandon intercepts a pass and runs it in for the winning touchdown. Submitted by Kevin Pearson of Moore, Idaho.

SECOND QUARTER (Videos submitted from Sept. 4 through Oct. 8):

• John Stark Regional Generals. Weare, N.H. Danny makes a break on the ball to pick it off and returns it 50 yards for a touchdown. Submitted by Bill Raycraft, Weare, N.H.
• Woodruff High School. Peoria, Ill. Michael intercepts the ball and runs it back for a touchdown, the first time the red team had been scored on in two seasons. Submitted by Michael Aldrich, Peoria, Ill.

THIRD QUARTER: (Videos submitted from Oct. 9 through Nov. 5):

• Holton Youth Football. Holton, Mich. Garret throws an interception in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and then chases the player all the way down to the 1 yard line, pulling him back to prevent the touchdown. Submitted by Denise Mitchell, Holton, Mich.
• Mount Desert Island High School Trojans. Bar Harbor, Maine. Terrence grabs the ball out of the air for an interception and returns it 57 yards for a touchdown, with mom cheering him on! Submitted by Duane Crawford, Lamoine, Maine.

FOURTH QUARTER: (Videos submitted from Nov. 6 through Dec. 3):

• Southeastern RVT Hawks. South Easton, Mass. How fast can a 250-pound linebacker run? You be the judge on this 93-yard interception return for a touchdown. Submitted by Jeffrey Cziska, New Bedford, Mass.
• Flora High School Wolves. Flora, Ill. On Oct. 5, 2007, the Flora Wolves' Jordan intercepts a sure touchdown pass with only one hand while never breaking stride against the Martinsville Bluestreaks. Submitted by Robert Boose, Flora, Ill.

The Delivery Intercept contests highlights an award-winning service UPS (NYSE:UPS) introduced earlier this year called UPS Delivery Intercept that allows UPS shippers to make game-saving interceptions of their own. The industry's only Web-enabled package interception service, UPS Delivery Intercept gives customers the ultimate flexibility and control to return, redirect or hold packages before they're delivered.

"It's been a lot of fun to see the more than 175 highlight reel-worthy videos that streamed into the contest," said Kurt Kuehn, UPS senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. "We're delighted to highlight these phenomenal young players and to provide some much-needed support for their teams. At the same time, the contest has been a great opportunity to help spread the word about UPS Delivery Intercept, which provides our customers an unprecedented level of control over their shipments."