Cleveland Browns Chevy Silverado

So this is how I won a truck. It all started with entering a simple online form on the Cleveland Browns website. I did this right before the season started. I like to try and enter the sports teams right before the season starts as many of their promotions run season long and so you will be entered for the entire time and have the most opportunity to win.

Each week they would choose two random winners to compete head to head against each in a throw-off. Each contestant would have 15 seconds to throw as many footballs in the bed of a Chevy Silverado as they can. If they bounce out they did not count. Each weekly winner will then come back the final game of the season to throw against other winners and determine the final winner.

I received a call that I was selected for week one. The problem was we had a trip planned that we had already paid that would have to be switched. Fortunately, minus a few fees, this was able to happen.

I practiced throwing into the trunk of my car and did go to a dealership to measure the height of the bed of the truck. I would hope for the best.

That Sunday, I arrived and the two of us started throwing balls as fast as we could. We both threw at the same time. They called stop and I was not sure if I had won or not. It was a tie. The tiebreaker is just one ball from slighter farther back. I threw and made mine, he threw and made his. They moved us back again and asked me to throw. I asked if he could go first as I threw first last time. They agreed and he missed the back of the truck completely. Now I just had to make one more ball and I would be 1 of 7 that would compete for the truck later in the season. I stepped up and lofted it into the back of the truck for the victory. Relief…I was really worried that I had canceled a vacation and was going to wind up with a new jersey to show for it.

Now I had three months to prepare for those finals. A quick trip to the store to buy 15 nerf balls that were as similar to the ones I just thrown. Also, I made friends with the local Chevrolet dealership that was just a couple miles from my house. They jumped on board to let me practice using one of their used trucks. I would use the same truck each week for about 1 hour in their back lot. Sometimes employees would come to challenge me. It was a lot of fun and they were happy to get involved. Over the time I tried perfecting my strategy. How to throw the ball, overhand, underhand, spiral, how to make it not bounce, ect. The only thing I came up with was that if I threw the balls from a catcher stance I would be able to throw 3 more balls in 15 seconds and also throw the same ball each and every time, becoming much more accurate.

I came home from the dealership elated that I had figured this out and this was going to win me the truck. The final week before the finals, the dealership let me have the truck at my house to practice. I would throw a few times a day wearing the exact outfit I planned on wearing. I tried to keep everything as close to the real thing as possible.

Game day was here. I had about 20 friends and family that were coming to witness the event. Some didn’t have tickets as they expected it to be all filmed before the game, just like had happened each week. There was just one little change. The seven will throw to find out who the two will be that will throw in the finals during halftime. We would each go one at a time. I drew 5th, which was exactly where I wanted to be because I knew if I could take the lead, both people would have to beat me for me to get knocked out of the finals. I stepped up needing 13 to take the lead. The first guy that threw made 12 of 12 in 15 seconds. I made 15 of 17 that I threw. The other two I missed bounced out.

The finals would be at Halftime, with 80K fans watching the event. It was cold and I had numerous layers on, but took them off right before heading down to the sideline. I wanted to throw just like I had practiced over the past three months. Another slight change of plans came when they explained there would be big Chevy cutouts in front of us and we were also throwing from about 7 yards father because of all the advertising that was on the field. I really was unsure how this would play out but decided to stick to the same strategy.

It was much tougher throwing the balls, because of the distance and wind swirling down on the field. I am not sure how many I threw and I had no idea how many even went it when time was stopped but I ended up winning 9-6. I made my way to the truck and for some reason kept beeping the horn. As I stepped out I stood on the edge of the cab and took it all in. I had just won the truck!