FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-54 10/24/97

NFL GETS READY FOR HALLOWEEN

National Football League players, coaches and their families will celebrate Halloween next week through numerous programs in their local communities.

A sampling of Halloween ’97 in the NFL:

DALLAS COWBOYS -- QB JASON GARRETT is loaning his likeness as a celebrity scarecrow for the Dallas Arboretum’s Family Harvest Festival on October 25-26 and November 1-2. The festival will be a family-friendly event, celebrating the traditions of harvest time......DE TONY TOLBERT and his wife TASHA will be dressed as a boxer and "Mortisha" at the Eighth Annual "Ghostly Affair" on Thursday, October 30 at the Bank of America in Irving, Texas. The Tolberts are serving as Honorary Chairpersons for the event, which will benefit the Irving Infant Intervention Center.

DETROIT LIONS -- For the second year in a row, the Lions are co-sponsoring the "Zoo Boo" Halloween festival at the Detroit Zoo from Thursday, October 23 through Halloween. The festival allows youngsters to trick-or-treat along a quarter- mile trail where costumed volunteers hand out goodies. The Lions Ladies Organization, comprised of wives and girlfriends of Lions players and coaches, will work the Lions’ treat station. REBECCA ELLISS, wife of DT LUTHER ELLISS, is coordinating the event.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS -- Members of the Colts have been hosts at the "Indianapolis Children’s Museum Haunted House" since October 18 and will continue to do so through Halloween night. Colts players will greet guests, sign autographs and participate in other "Haunted House" activities......The Colts also will be hosting a booth at the "Safe Night Halloween Trick-or-Treat" event held at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds on Halloween night. This affair offers inner-city children the opportunity to trick-or-treat safely at various community group booths.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS -- Jaguars players and their wives will be sponsoring a Halloween Carnival at ALLTEL Stadium on Thursday, October 30 for the children of staff members, players and coaches.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS -- More than 200 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City will participate in RB KIMBLE ANDERS’ "A Pumpkin Fest." The afterschool event will be held at the John T. Thornberry Center for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City on Monday, October 27. Anders and members of the Chiefs will help the children decorate pumpkins and make paper mache masks. Kimble will also deliver painted pumpkins and treat-filled goodie bags to youths at Spofford House, a facility which provides therapeutic care for emotionally disturbed children.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS -- On Wednesday, October 22, WR RANDAL HILL celebrated Halloween at an area Boys Town pizza party. After eating, Hill took the boys to "Sheriff Foti’s Haunted House" for a good scare. Other Saints players will dress as monsters and greet those who dare to enter the Haunted House on Friday, October 24.

NEW YORK GIANTS -- The wives of Giants players will stuff goodie bags on October 29 for the children of Ronald McDonald House in New York City, a haven that houses seriously ill children and their families.

OAKLAND RAIDERS -- On Thursday, October 30, the Raiders will team up with the PAL (Police Athletic League) to host a Halloween party at the Raiders’ Alameda training facility for over 100 at-risk youths from the Bay Area. Free pumpkins and costumes will be given out. Players also will distribute candy to trick-or-treaters during the afternoon.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES -- Several Eagles players will make appearances at local children’s hospitals to spread Halloween cheer. WR CHRIS T. JONES, DE MIKE MAMULA and RB DUCE STALEY will visit with youngsters at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, on Friday, October 31. C STEVE EVERITT will spend time with children at St. Christopher’s Hospital on Halloween.

ST. LOUIS RAMS -- For the second consecutive year, the Rams have teamed up with Northwest Plaza Mall in North St. Louis to create a safe and special trick-or-treating opportunity for more than 750 youngsters at the "Ghosts, Goblins & Gridiron Party." The festivities will take place on Friday, October 31. Rams players, including DT D’MARCO FARR, DE KEVIN CARTER, DT JEFF ZGONINA, DT BILL JOHNSON, CB TAJE ALLEN, CB DEXTER MC CLEON and others will sign autographs, distribute candy and hand out awards for the best costumes. Rams tickets will be special prizes for a scavenger hunt held throughout the mall. In addition, the Rams Cheerleaders will perform a special Halloween routine.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS -- The club will host a Halloween Party for staff, coaches and players at the team’s training facility. Women and children from a local shelter are also invited to participate in the Halloween festivities.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS -- The Seahawks Women’s Group will be conducting an annual Halloween party on Monday, October 27 for children living at Seattle Emergency Housing, a transitional housing development for homeless families. Seahawks players, their wives/girlfriends and staff members will be in attendance......On Tuesday, October 28, players, cheerleaders and staff will attend a Halloween/Pizza Party at the Seahawks Academy, an alternative school for 100 seventh and eighth graders.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS -- Redskin players and the Redskinettes Cheerleaders will be traveling to Children’s Hospital in Washington DC on Tuesday, October 28 to visit with patients. Fox Channel 5 Broadcaster BRETT HABER will host a question-and-answer session between the players and the young patients. Players and Redskinettes also will sign autographs and distribute Halloween goodie bags to the bedridden children throughout the hospital.