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Plant High Players Rehearse Roles As Cardinals, Steelers

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2009

TAMPA - What young boy hasn't pretended to be a professional football player during a pickup game in their backyard? Plant players get to do it for real Friday night at Raymond James Stadium, but first they had to practice like the pros.

With the help of former USC and Los Angles Rams coach John Robinson, members of the Class 4A State Championship team ran through a series of plays at Dad's Stadium today pretending to be the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Robinson guided the Panthers through the plays which will be used in a simulation game Friday night to help NBC cameras prepare for Sunday's Super Bowl LXIII game.

"They did great," Robinson said. "It's a championship team and they've been very well coached."

For a little more than an hour, Plant ran through a series of plays. Sophomore quarterback Phillip Ely led the Arizona Cardinals offense as Pro Bowl quarterback Kurt Warner. Junior quarterback Staige Hoffman stood in for Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger.

Wide receiver Eric Dungy took a turn as Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, while wideout Nelson Vazquez did everything the Cardinals Anquan Boldin does.

Well, almost everything. Vazquez wasn't in his coach's face screaming for more playing time.

"Nelly's always in my ear, but no blowups though," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "I'm sure that will carry through the Anquan Boldin experience."

Ely's working on perfecting Warner's moves and some semblance of a beard, since Warner has a five o'clock shadow by 9 a.m. every day. The football will take care of itself.

"It was pretty much the same concepts," Ely said. "They throw and we throw."

Dungy's been to Super Bowls before, including the game two years ago where he stood on the Indianapolis sideline with his father, former Colts head coach Tony Dungy, when they defeated the Chicago Bears.

"It's cool to do this with all my friends," Dungy said. "It's cool to share the experience. We all pretend to be pro athletes. We all wear their jerseys. Now we get to do it on camera."

On Friday night, they'll play the pro game for real and even get introduced as the players.

"To run out in that stadium and pretend to be a Super Bowl player, sure, that's great," Robinson said. "They've already had some wonderful experiences. This is just one more."

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860.

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