Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

NFL’s QB
Challenge
airs on TV

By Anthony Sommer
Kauai correspondent

LIHUE -- The return of the NFL Quarterback Challenge to Kauai will be shown in two parts on the CBS television network at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The post Pro-Bowl quarterback skills competition was taped Feb. 10 at Vidinha Stadium. The event was born on Kauai in 1989 but moved to Orlando, Fla., in 1993 because of stadium damage by 1992's Hurricane Iniki.

Kauai won the NFL Quarterback Challenge back this year by beating bids from Florida, Bermuda and Arizona. The contract calls for the event to be on Kauai again in 2001 immediately after the Pro Bowl. Organizers expect it to remain on Kauai as long as the Pro Bowl stays in Hawaii.

The event was subsidized by the Hawaii Tourism Authority and organized by the Kauai Economic Development Board. The NFL provided the paint used by volunteers to give the stadium its first facelift since the hurricane.

The NFL Quarterback Challenge is viewed as a major promotional event for Kauai. The only other nationally televised sports event played annually here is the PGA's Grand Slam golf tourney.

Competitors in this year's challenge included Jake Plummer of the Arizona Cardinals (the 1999 winner), Jim Harbaugh of the San Diego Chargers (the 1998 winner), Cade McNown of the Chicago Bears, Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, Chris Chandler of the Atlanta Falcons, Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles and Brad Johnson of the Washington Redskins.

The Kansas City Chiefs' Warren Moon and the Pittsburgh Steelers' Kordell Stewart attended but did not play.