Watch CBS News

Dejected Youth Football Team Denied Disney World, But Eagles Lift Their Spirits

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --  Players from youth football team West Philly Tarheels learned this week that they weren't going to Disney World for their championship game.  The team is undefeated, and was supposed to play in Florida for the championship, as the league promises all other age groups. Now, one local politician has stepped in to help raise the kids' spirits.

Brian Tucker, who's President of the Tarheels, says when the team found out they weren't going to see Mickey & Minnie, "it crushed them. We had young men crying, coaches crying cause they young men were crying."

And when Congressman Bob Brady heard, he was angry.  "I mean, how do you keep these kids character when you make a play into the middle of the year, maybe toward the end of the year, and say, 'well you're not going to go to Disney World, even though you won everything, even though you were 10 & 0.' I mean, that's totally ridiculous," he said.

So Brady decided to call in a few friends-- the Philadelphia Eagles. The team came through with 50 tickets for the Tarheels. Tucker says, it may not be Disney, but it's a great consolation prize.

"We have young men who wear their jerseys to practice," Tucker told KYW Newsradio.

And Brady says, he's not stopping there.

"I am still going to write a letter, and make some calls to these Pop Warner people," he said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.