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The Backyard Bowl Series (officially known for sponsorship purposes as The MidFirst Bank Backyard Bowl Series) refers to the athletics rivalry between the Jenks Trojans and the Union Redskins of the Class 6A in Oklahoma.

History[edit]

The Backyard Bowl Series regular season football games are usually played at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium at the University of Tulsa.^[1] Known as the 'Backyard Bowl,' the rivalry has received coverage by Sporting News and is the subject of a Versus documentary produced by NFL Films. The annual game is played at the University of Tulsa and has drawn crowds of over 40,000. The annual rivalry game was presented on the Great American Rivalry Series internet broadcast in 2007. One of these two teams won Oklahoma's Class 6A (large school) title every year from 1996 to 2016.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Game results[edit]

██ Jenks win██ Union win██ Tie

^[8][9]

Notable alumni[edit]

Jenks[edit]

• Chase Beeler, former center for the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles
• Corey Callens, former DE for the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Rhein Fire, Miami Dolphins, and Austin Wranglers
• Rocky Calmus, former Linebacker for the Tennessee Titans (2002–2004) ^[10]
• Phillip Dillard, former LB for the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Omaha Nighthawks, and San Diego Chargers
• Jake Laptad, former DE for the Chicago Bears
• Sean Mahan, former football center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers^[11]
• Garrett Mills, former TE for the New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and Cincinnati Bengals
• Anthony Phillips, former DE for the Chicago Bears
• Lawrence Pinson, former LB for the Arizona Cardinals, Amsterdam Admirals, and New York Jets
• Brian Presley is an American actor
• Sean Wells, former lineman for the Houston Oilers
• Jerry Wisne, former OT for the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams, and Green Bay Packers

Union[edit]

• Justin Fuente, former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback and current head football coach for Virginia Tech^[12][13]
• Jeff Leiding, footballlinebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, 1986-1987^[14]
• Steve Logan, former East Carolina head football coach 1992-2002 and Boston College offensive coordinator 2007-2009^[15] (Assistant coach at Union High, 1974–79).^[16]
• Dominique Franks, footballcornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, 2010–present^[17]
• Tress Way, football punter for the Washington Redskins, 2013-present

References[edit]

1. ^http://www.maxpreps.com/m/article.aspx?articleid=8b8995-d270-4350-9f18-98fb0cb67956
2. ^'Greatest HS Football Rivalries'. Versus. Archived from the original on 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
3. ^Greenberg, Steve (2005-09-23). 'Fall in love again'. Sporting News. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
4. ^Tennis, Mark; Doug Huff (2005-08-23). 'High School Football's Top 10 Rivalries'. Student Sports. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
5. ^Baker, Matt (2007-09-05). 'Jenks-Union hits big time, crowds follow'. Tulsa World. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
6. ^Aber, Ryan (2007-09-05). 'There's no rivalry bigger than Jenks vs. Tulsa Union'. The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
7. ^Baker, Matt (December 12, 2009). 'High school football: 14 straight'. Tulsa World. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
8. ^http://www.m.newson6.com/story=15431331&catId=112042^{[permanent dead link]}
9. ^http://www.iwasatthegame.com/FootballAllTimeJenksVsUnion.pdf^{[permanent dead link]}
10. ^John Rohde, 'Curse of Sooners?: OU players face injury problems in NFL', The Oklahoman, October 21, 2007.
11. ^'Sean Mahan'. pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 2014.Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
12. ^Hines, Kelley (January 25, 2011). 'Former Union, OU quarterback Justin Fuente moving up coaching ladder'. Tulsa World. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
13. ^'Justin Fuente is Memphis' new coach'. ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
14. ^Jeff Leiding at http://www.databasefootball.comArchived 2015-04-16 at the Wayback Machine
15. ^'BC's O-coordinator Logan not returning to team', SI.com, January 16, 2009
16. ^Robert Rousseau, 'The skinny on BC offensive coordinator Steve Logan,'Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine RealFootball365.com, April 14, 2008.
17. ^[1]

External links[edit]

The late Pat Tillman made an unexpected appearance in a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, and it was awesome.

Seriously — if it didn’t bring a tear to your eye, it should have. It was just so surprising, so well done.

Backyard Bowl Football Tickets

Naturally, it started an argument, because everything must. Not everyone agreed it was as moving as I found it. Twitter, the barometer by which all instant reactions are now measured, was mostly positive, though there was some criticism that Tillman’s memory was being exploited. Fair enough.

But in the moment, it was pretty damn effective.

'Take it to the house, kid'

The ad was the lead-up to the game — a commercial for the NFL by the NFL. Don’t let that bother you. It starts with a kid playing backyard football. He takes a kick and starts running. And keeps running. All-time great Jim Brown, sitting on a bench, is the first to say, “Take it to the house, kid.”

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The kid keeps going, and going, in a nod to “Forrest Gump,” seemingly. “What’d I Say” by Ray Charles plays. He sprints toward the new stadium under construction in Los Angeles; members of both the LA Rams and Chargers move heavy equipment to help him along his way.

Among other stops, he zips through New Orleans, where quarterback Drew Brees throws him a pass.

It’s all very hectic, all motion all the time.

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He only stops to look up at Tillman

Then he arrives in front of State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. He's running toward the entrance when he passes the statue of Tillman out front.

And he stops.

The music stops.

He looks up at Tillman and simply stares in reverent silence.

Man.

Then he’s off again to New York and other locations, till he winds up in Miami for the game. It shifts to a live shot, and the kid, along with others in team jerseys, runs onto the field.

Backyard Bowl Football 2017

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Tillman was an iconoclast, no question

What seems to make a lot of people mad is that Tillman’s statue is decorated with American flags. Tillman, a star at Arizona State University and for the Cardinals, famously turned down a lucrative contract to join the Army. He was killed by friendly fire in 2004; the Army originally claimed he was killed in an ambush.

Tillman was an iconoclast of the first order, no question. His death and the government’s handling of it are shameful.

But to find his appearance here problematic is looking for trouble where it doesn’t exist. Enjoy the moment. I know I did.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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