Highlighting Philly-bred Athletes During Super Bowl Weekend

Kyle Eckel and Kareem McKenzie were both featured in Philadelphia Inquirer articles this week about local players that are in this year's Super Bowl between the Patriots and Giants. Good to see local boys doing well for themselves.

While it's unfortunate that no local players on the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl, for obvious reasons, at least some local gents are going for the glory.

Which gives me an idea...

Instead of the out-of-control, over-hyped Wing Bowl that has grown to become a poor man's version of an annual local Super Bowl, let's put the Philly-bred players that are not in the Super Bowl to good use. I propose a flag football tournament featuring 8 teams, each one captained by an NFL player that hails from Philly but is not in the Super Bowl. The remaining 4 or 5 players on each team would be up-and-coming high school stars. The game could be played at the Spectrum indoors on the Soul's arena football field, and money raised by attendance would go to a local charity.

This would give the city many benefits. First off, it would be a fun competition to look forward to during the usually painfully long January/February lull in the local sporting schedule (since the Eagles usually aren't in the Super Bowl, the Sixers are usually not competitive, and the Flyers are just kind of cruising along waiting until the playoffs to get exciting). Secondly, it could boost local pride and help encourage local athletes to excel on the field (and there could also be academic requirements to add to the mix) so they would have the chance to play alongside a pro player. Third, it would generate some good PR for the region. Last, a local charity would benefit from the ticket sales.

But unfortunately, just like the possibility of a Philly team winning a championship, this doesn't sound likely to happen, does it? Can't hurt to dream though...