Arresting sight as NFL, police give back to kids

On Tuesday, the New York Jets and USA Football hosted a four-team flag football tournament at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, New Jersey. It was part of the New York City Police Athletic League (PAL) NFL FLAG Football program.

It was a huge hit, as quarterbacks Josh McCown and Christian Hackenberg and nose tackle Mike Pennel worked with the youngsters and the winning team earned a trip to Florida.

“It’s awesome, to be a part of this and give back to the community,” McCown said. “For the kids to come here and be a part of this and to see the officers, you just hope that for them it helps them dream big and encourage them to keep chasing their goals. There’s a lot of smiling faces out here. They’re having a lot of fun.”

The teams each represented a New York City borough and were each coached by members of the New York Police Department and by McCown, Hackenberg and Pennel. Manhattan North defeated Queens South 6214 in the championship and will represent the Jets at the NFL Flag Championships during Pro Bowl week in Orlando in January 2018.

Before the games, the Jets presented a $40,000 cheque to the NYC PAL to fund the flag football program. The partnership aims to bring the community closer together by providing 1,200 youth from the five boroughs of New York City the chance to play flag football at no cost. NYPD officers volunteer to coach teams near their local precincts.

“This program is actually great because it gives everybody an opportunity to see that the police can interact with children. They get to look at police officers in a different way,” said winning coach and NYPD homicide detective Wil Acevedo. “Having this event here and working with NFL players is awesome because it now puts it into perspective for the kids that this can be a real goal if I work hard and bust their tails. They see these NFL ballplayers like human beings. Mike (Pennel) was awesome, he’s out there highfiving us, jumping with us, he was part of the team. The kids notice that.”

THE KNEE-BORHOOD: When Houston Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson went down with a season-ending ACL injury, there were hundreds of players around the league who could painfully relate. One of those was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who returned to practice from a 14-month absence just before Watson was hurt.

Josh McCown