Our good friend Jon Gruden, ESPN Monday Night Football Analyst (and longtime PDQ Tender Lover), stopped by our
PDQ Cherry Hill location on Saturday aboard the Monday Night Football bus to recognize and give back to three local high school football programs.
Our PDQ team, along with Super Bowl winning head coach Gruden, were proud to honor the squads from Lenape, Pennsauken and Vineland High Schools as part of an initiative to recognize local high school football teams this season. In 2008, Gruden founded the Fired Football Coaches Association (FFCA) and he has spent the last nine years giving back to the game of football, with an emphasis on high school sports.
Gruden spent Saturday hanging out with players from all three teams and presented each head coach with a check for $4,000 from the FFCA and PDQ. A Gruden Grinder from each team was selected and received a PDQ football signed by Gruden. Champion Athleticwear provided t-shirts to the players and coaches, and of course everyone enjoyed some PDQ favorites like hand-breaded tenders and homemade sauces.
Gruden, who was in town for the Redskins-Eagles game on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, offered up these words of wisdom to all the players and their coaches: "I’m here to encourage them to finish strong. And to challenge them to get better in the off-season and remind them what a great game football is and what benefits they’re getting from it, even though they might not know it."
“Youth sports numbers are going down, and it's important that we do everything we can to help as much as possible,” said Gruden. “Coach McAneney, Coach Russo and Coach Tabb are all doing great things at each of their schools.”
“Jon is one of the most successful coaches of all-time, and his dedication to giving back to the community and youth sports is unmatched,” said PDQ CEO and Co-Founder Nick Reader. “We are proud to partner with him to recognize great coaches and teams across the country.”
"Coach Gruden is a champion on and off the field, and we are excited to be partnering with him to support young athletes playing the game of football," said Matt Waterman, General Manager Champion Athleticwear. "We believe there is a heart of a champion in everyone and Coach Gruden lives by that motto every day through his dedication to community and youth athletics."
The players loved hearing insight and advice from one of the greatest coaches of all time and will definitely be taking his words with them throughout the rest of their football careers.