At 75, Pop Warner football going strong

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2004 | by Evan Millar

Running late for a Pop Warner game without his cleats, Priest Holmes, then a 10-year-old running back for the San Antonio Trojans, asked his mom to stop and pick up a new pair.

"She picked me out a pair of tennis shoes," Holmes says. "I scored three touchdowns in a pair of tennis shoes with no laces."

Now a running back with the Kansas City Chiefs, Holmes, 31, says his Pop Warner days are when he first dreamed of NFL stardom. In the 75th annual Pop Warner Super Bowl at Orlando's Walt Disney World this week, other young players probably have NFL dreams, too.

Pop Warner, a youth football program for ages 5 to 16, was established in 1929 and later renamed for legendary coach Glenn S. "Pop" Warner. Programs exist in 42 states and six foreign countries. They...