Drew Cambal, 9, loves school anyway, but on Tuesday, he got to bring a special friend along: Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.
Drew was one of 34 kids -- chosen from over 100,000 nationwide -- who won the chance to take a professional football player to school. The sweepstakes was sponsored by J.C. Penney and the National Football League's PLAY 60 campaign, an effort to help kids get 60 minutes of exercise every day.
Drew, a third-grader at Stewart Elementary, found out six weeks ago that Ward would be coming with him to school. But he kept the secret from almost everyone until right before it happened -- "an amazing thing" for a 9-year-old to do, said his teacher, Cathy Shank.
Yesterday morning, the Cambals' home was abuzz with news media and extended family decked out in Steelers gear.
Drew, wearing a kid-sized Hines Ward jersey, played with his football quietly on the stairs by the front door, a big grin on his face.
Drew is shy and well-behaved in school, but at home, he's a bundle of energy, said his mother, Shani, 39.
"I am sure he gets more than 60 minutes (of exercise) a day," she said. "He does not know how to sit still. He bounces off the walls until he falls asleep."
The rest of his family -- including his father, Geoff, 48, and sister, Courtney, 10 -- were dressed in Steelers colors, too.
Courtney wore a Troy Polamalu jersey "because they didn't have any other (Hines Ward) shirts," she said, sounding very disappointed.
Drew's great-grandmother, Mary Butera, 84, of New Kensington, a lifelong Steelers fan, was draped in a black-and-gold scarf, and seemed about ready to leap out of her chair when Ward walked through the door.
"I'm so excited," she proclaimed proudly. "I didn't sleep all night!" (That was even after she had turned out her Steelers lamp and lay down on her Steelers sheets to try to get some shut-eye).
Butera doesn't see too well anymore, but the rest of the family gives her the play-by-play when they watch football together, she said.
When Ward's limo pulled up and he strode through the door, Ward greeted Drew, who was beaming.
"Drew! What's goin' on, buddy?"
As Ward shook hands and signed Steelers gear, he chatted and joked with his new friend -- who, as it turns out, also likes to play wide receiver.
That made Ward smile and chuckle, "That's what I'm talking about! I could hang with you any day!"
Then, Drew and his family piled into a limousine with Ward for the ride to Stewart Elementary School.
In the school auditorium, the students could hardly hold their excitement down to a dull roar.
Ward calmed them down, offered a few wise words about the benefits of exercise, and answered their questions about life, football and what he did when he was a kid: play outside as much as possible.
Then, he led them through his personal pre-game ritual, which he uses in the tunnel to get rid of nerves.
"Shake your body, just go crazy and scream for about five seconds -- that's what I do!"
They did -- until their screams bubbled over into giggles.
Then, while most of the students went back to class, Drew's class went to the school gym.
There, Ward, teachers and parents led a gym class that included jumping rope, relay races and muscle-building stretches, to a soundtrack of pumped-up dance music.
Ward said he especially enjoys appearances where he gets to meet children, "just to see the expression on their faces. ... That's what I look forward to."
When Ward was a kid, he said, "I hopscotched with the best of 'em," then discovered football -- to his mother's consternation -- at around the age of 12, and was hooked for life.
"I used to hate going inside," he said. "My mother couldn't find me when I was outside!"
But even for kids who aren't naturally good at sports, fitness has to be a priority, he said.
"You don't have to be involved in athletics to be in shape," Ward said. "Just exercise. You don't have to be a football or basketball player.
"Just get off the couch and do something!"
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