When seven-year-old Kennedy Marsh came home from school one day and informed her parents Christian and Lindsay (Greaver) Marsh that she had won her school’s division of the NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition  there was only a little bit of surprise.

 

“We didn’t even know about it,” said Christian Marsh. “She’s not a tomboy, but she’s really athletic so the fact that she won wasn’t too surprising; just the fact that it caught us off guard.”

 

Kennedy won the 6-and-7-year-old division as a second grade student in Mrs. Marsha Folio’s second grade class at Johnson Elementary. From there, she won her division at Summit Park and then she headed off to regional competition at Uniontown, Pa.

 

By winning the regional, Kennedy earned a chance to compete this Sunday at Heinz Field at the NFL level, but before getting the invitation she had to see how her efforts in putting, passing and kicking stacked up against the other regions that were competing. As it turned out, she did quite well.

 

“Not only was she competing against others in the regional in Uniontown, but she was competing against other regions in order to see if she would qualify for competing this Sunday,” said Christian. “The good news is that we’ll be in Pittsburgh on Sunday.”

 

That is indeed good news. The Marsh family, along with two-year-old Emerey Marsh, will be heading to Heinz Field for competition Sunday. The battle for bragging rights begin at 11 a.m.

 

“They let us know that any family members can attend the competition at 11 a.m.,” said Christian. “If she wins here, then she gets to go to the Pro Bowl.”

 

While the family is hoping for a strong showing from Kennedy, she’s already being rewarded. A Steeler fan like her father, as part of advancing to Heinz Field, Kennedy and her dad get to attend Sunday’s home Steelers game against the Giants.

 

“We’re both excited and both Steelers fans. I’m not even sure where we’re sitting because the tickets aren’t numbered and we’re just guests of the Steelers. We actually enter through the players’ locker room area,” said Christian. “We’re both pretty excited.”

 

Even more exciting is there’s an outside chance the locals could see Kennedy Marsh. The game kicks off at 4:25 p.m. on Fox and Christian said even though the competition is over long before the game starts the competitors get a chance to kick and punt at halftime.

 

“I’m pretty sure she got the love of the game from me and we’ve been passing and playing since she was little. She’s just always been involved with sports, particularly golf,” said her father. “We hope she does well, but we know we’re going to have fun too.”

 

Editor's Note: Kennedy Marsh is shown at the top with her medal after winning the regional event in Uniontown, while she's shown with her little sister Emerey and parents Christian and Lindsay Marsh in the middle photo. In the bottom picture, she poses after the win in Uniontown with her dad and sister, who apparently loves football too. Photos courtesy of the Marsh family.