Adopt a Panther

Luke's school has this program where he can "adopt" a Varsity Football player at the local high school. The program is open to boys in K-6th grade and they basically just pay a fee to the booster club and pick out their football player. I thought this was a great idea and so did Chuck so I signed Luke up yesterday. I emailed the woman in charge and asked her to match Luke up with someone who is good with kids - my only criteria really. She apparently (no surprise) is a mom of one of the players. She, of course, recommended her son (who loves kids) and then provided a list of five other players that are friendly. However, one stood out in my mind because this was her description of him:

D*** R***** is a lineman who is HUGE, over 300 pounds, and provides lots of excitement during the games. He is one of the nicest young men I have ever met, and he's being recruited by a lot of schools right now. His nickname (he asked for it - seriously!) is Big Chocolate. Everyone loves him.

I was sold! Sounds perfect. I told her to hook us up with either her son or Big Chocolate. Both sound wonderful. She decided that Luke should adopt Big Chocolate because he would be the envy of all his friends. I love it. She also sent us a picture of the quarterback, her son, and Big Chocolate, all posing for a media shot together. It's a media shot so I don't feel bad about posting it.


It is the best! Did you figure out which one is Big Chocolate? Ha! The woman's son is in the middle and Luke insists that his hair used to look just like that.

I took the picture home to Luke and he is super excited, except he's decided he really likes this woman's son instead of Big Chocolate. I was so disappointed. Big Chocolate is cool in so many ways, but Luke is obsessed with the other kid. I swear I don't understand the way kids' minds work.

So, in this program, the kids are part of the Panther Pack. They get (1) a Panther Pack t-shirt; (2) a photo button picture with their adopted Panther football player; (3) on the field introduction at Meet the Team Night; and (4) an opportunity to go in the locker room and run on the field with the team at one home game.

We already have the games marked on our calendar. It should be super fun. Also the woman said we could adopt her son, but I'm pushing for Luke to be able to adopt both of them. We'll see. This should be super cute!