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Luckey youth takes first at Cleveland Browns Stadium
By Mark Griffin
Special to The Press
sports@presspublications.com
Mike and Kelly McCullough shouldn't be surprised that their son, Lucas, 9, won his age group on Nov. 25 at the state Pepsi NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Lucas, a fourth-grader at Luckey Elementary in the Eastwood District, won the division for 8- to 9-year-olds when he posted a final total of 235 feet, 1 inch. His kick went approximately 87 feet, his pass about 75 feet and his punt about 73 feet, according to his mom, who said Lucas usually has some type of ball near him all the time.
“Lucas does sports all year round,” Kelly said. “Baseball, basketball, soccer — anything he can do, he does. He's perpetual motion. He just doesn't stop. He's kicking soccer balls, or pitching to me. He was born with a ball.”
Lucas, an engaging youngster who stands about 52 inches tall and weighs about 60 pounds, has an older brother, Nicholas, 13, who has always been involved in soccer. Nicholas never entered the Punt, Pass & Kick competition.
Lucas, however, entered the local Punt, Pass & Kick event as an 8-year-old last year and took first place at the local Eastwood competition. He went to the regional at Tiffin but was unable to advance to the state level.
This year, he won the Eastwood event, then won again at the Tiffin regional to advance to Cleveland Browns Stadium for the state-level event. The Tiffin regional included competitors from Bowling Green, Fremont and Findlay.
Last Sunday, the regional winners got to go down on the field at Browns Stadium and meet the NFL players before the Browns-Houston Texans game.
“It felt really good to be down on the field and actually get to high-five the players,” Lucas said. “It was exciting. It was a great game.”
Earlier that morning, the Ohio state finalists from each Pepsi Punt, Pass & Kick regional squared off in the state finals at the Browns' practice facility in Berea.
“Some of the kids who competed against him were like a head taller,” Kelly said. “He was the first one in his age group to compete. I think in the long run it helped him. He was nervous but he got it over with.”
Lucas' three-event total of 235-1 earned him first place in the 8-9 age group and made him eligible to qualify for the national championship at a site to be determined. The site will be held at an NFL playoff game.
“As long as he stays in the top four, he will advance to a playoff game at the national competition,” Kelly said. “They have two more weeks of competition going on for the other NFL teams.”
Lucas, a Browns, Colts and Steelers fan, said “it would mean so much to me” to continue on.
“It would be really fun to go to a playoff game,” he said, “because I've never been to one.”
He said his favorite event in the Punt, Pass & Kick competition is the kick. He plays flag football and recreation soccer in U-10 for Eastwood and for the ESSL U-11 Arsenal travel soccer team.
“I always wanted to be a kicker,” Lucas said. “Soccer helps my kick a lot. I always practice my kick a lot and it's my favorite thing to do. My second favorite thing would probably be the pass. It was really fun.
“I didn't know what I was going to do (in Cleveland). Everyone else was nervous, too. I just went out there and did my thing. I probably practiced almost every day. This was my first time to go to the Cleveland Browns, so I practiced a lot. I was excited. Any kids who want to try it, all you have to do is practice.”
Lucas said he wasn't sure he could win his age group, partially because all of the kids in his age group were bigger than him.
“There were a lot of kids there - bigger kids,” he said. “But, it doesn't matter how big you are, it just matters how far you can do it.”
After the morning competition last Sunday, some 40 or so competitors went to Browns stadium for a Punt, Pass & Kick exhibition.
“They split the kids into three groups,” Kelly said. “One of them punted, one of them kicked and the other ones threw. It was a busy day. Between the third and fourth quarter, the kids who won first place got to go down on the field and their pictures went up on the big screen. The kids were down on the field an hour before the game and got to see the players warm up. Lucas was down there through the third quarter and they lined up at the end of the field and announced all the first-place winners.”
Kelly said Lucas received a plaque for his first-place effort, and took it to school on Monday to show everyone.
“He took the plaque in to show some of his teachers,” Kelly said. “All he did was grin. He put his head down, like he was embarrassed. They made a pretty big deal out of it at school.”
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