TAMPA, Fla.—Many top NFL stars participated in a unique event which provided football fans all across the country with a memorable mobile phone experience on Saturday.

 

Sprint Phone-A-Friend @ NFL PLAYERS Live!, a three-day event promoted by NFL PLAYERS, was held in conjunction with Super Bowl XLIII and featured NFL players calling family and friends of those attending the NFL Experience directly from Sprint mobile phones. Held at Raymond James Stadium, site of Super Bowl XLIII, the event featured 41 of the biggest names in the NFL.

 

“It was fun, just being able to talk with the fans and their families and kind of just get a one-on-one experience,” said Pro Bowl defensive end Mario Williams of the Houston Texans, a former No. 1 overall draft pick. “I liked the excitement of the people when they’re talking to you. They don’t get to see your face often, because playing football you always have a helmet on, so being able to see our faces is a good thing.”

 

NFL PLAYERS, the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association, created the consumer-focused event three years ago in an effort to highlight players as real players with real passion and real personalities. The company arranges all player appearances and marketing opportunities for all NFL sponsors throughout the year. According to Allison Tucker, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development for NFL PLAYERS, this year’s event succeeded in providing value to all those involved: players, fans and the Sprint brand.

 

“This marks the third year of Sprint Phone-A-Friend @ NFL PLAYERS Live!” Tucker said. “We are proud of how this partnership has developed into a strategic marketing platform for Sprint and highlighted as a popular event at the NFL Experience. We look forward to the same excitement to carry on in Miami next year.”

 

On Thursday and Friday, three NFL players lined up to deliver messages each hour from 4 to 8 p.m. The event culminated on Saturday when 18 players, three per hour, took the stage from noon to 6 p.m. Sprint offered Sprint Speed Lines each day exclusively for Sprint customers, allowing them to move through the lines faster. The three-day lineup included Derrick Brooks, Antonio Pierce, Brandon Marshall and many other well-known players.

 

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Brandon Jones joked, “What’s better than talking to strangers? You can have a good time and make it what it is. It’s always great to just reach out to different people and make certain people happy because I’d be happy if a player called me.”

 

Players asked fans several different questions during the phone calls, including who their favorite team is, where they’re from and their predictions for Super Bowl XLIII. It was a memorable mobile experience for fans in all parts of the nation and was enjoyable for the dozens of players as well. Most people receiving the calls were shocked that an NFL star would be calling them, even despite some warnings from their friends and family attending the event.

 

Saturday was extra special for a couple of young NFL fans who live in Tampa. Shayla Lewkowiez, 10, is a fifth-grade student at Northwest Elementary School and was the grand prize winner of NFL PLAYERS’ “Stay Cool in School” essay contest. She wrote about overcoming cancer at age 8 for the contest’s theme: “My Winning Moment.” Lewkowiez, whose favorite player is Brooks, got the chance to meet and interview him and several other players, in addition to getting autographs and taking pictures with the players.

 

“It’s really fun—I didn’t think I’d win it and I was really surprised when I did win the essay contest,” she said, adding that she wanted the Steelers to win the Super Bowl.

 

Alexi Kioukis, a 10-year-old from Orlando, Fla., could not have imagined what would happen next when it became his turn to have a player call from his mobile phone. The surprise of the day came when it was announced that one lucky fan had won free tickets to Super Bowl XLIII. Kioukis and his family couldn’t believe it when they became the lucky winners.

 

“Well, we were waiting in line to talk to Darren Sproles, and we were the last people, so I guess we just won a Super Bowl ticket,” Kioukis enthusiastically explained. “It’s awesome! I am a Sprint user and they’re really good; Sprint rocks!” he added.

 

The premiere event of the year in which fans can interact with NFL stars, Sprint Phone-A-Friend continued to serve as a great opportunity for NFL players to connect with fans on a personal level. Using Sprint’s wireless networks and devices made the event one-of-a-kind because fans didn’t have to be in Tampa to interact with the NFL stars.

 

Sprint spokesman Dave Mellin, one of several Sprint representatives in attendance, said his company was thrilled with the event’s success.

 

“It’s a way that fans can interact with players, and the players can then interact with another fan that might be in a remote location to give them a sense of what it’s like to be here at the Super Bowl,” Mellin said. “It gives them a fun experience. It’s grown exponentially since we started it.

 

“It is unique and our relationship with NFL PLAYERS is critical. We do work with a number of players and a number of different events … and our relationship with NFL PLAYERS has been a critical one. They’ve been terrific to work with, and we certainly would not have the success with a program like [this] like we do unless that relationship was where it is, and I think that it’s been a mutually beneficial thing.”

 

Because it is difficult for players to sign every autograph and shake hands with all of their loyal fans during the regular season, this annual event is one of the most popular at the fan-centric NFL Experience. Its interactivity and reputation as a great fan destination filled with fun things to do for the entire family served as an appropriate build-up to the memorable game pitting the Arizona Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

“It’s been wonderful; I’m having a great time and so are all the people here,” Brooks said. “To just be out here and hang with the fans that support us is a great thing.”