T.J. Siewing takes third at State Punt, Pass & Kick

T.J. Siewing, a six year old, first grader from Malta, took his football talents to Miles City two weekends ago andtook third place in the NFL's Annual Punt, Pass and Kick competition, and came home with a nifty medal for his efforts.

"I won first place in the first round here so I got to go," said T.J.

Of the three phases of the competition, Siewing said that punting was his favorite because he gets to practice in the backyard with his dad, Tim. His mother, Becky, said that T.J. did really well.

"He improved his total distance from 95.6 (at the prelim in Malta) and then 113.6 in Miles City," she said. The total score combines all the distances from one punt, pass and kick and take accuracy into consideration. Hundreds of children competed in regional PPK events in order to advance to the state meets and T.J. was one of over a dozen Malta athletes to compete in Miles City.

T.J. bettered his kicking and passing at the state event and says though he plays baseball and basketball, football is his favorite sport.

"Sometimes when we play at school I get to be quarterback," T.J. said as he explained why he enjoys football the most. He added that he likes to punt the ball as much as passing and said that he hopes to one day play for the Malta Mustangs where he hopes to wear number 16.

"That's the number that I get to wear at school sometimes," T.J. said.

The NFL Punt, Pass & Kick football competition allows youngsters to showcase their talents in punting, passing and placekicking with scores based on distance and accuracy.