It’s officially Super Bowl week and a litany of football players and coaches with Mississippi ties are making their way to the Big Easy to compete in the most popular sporting event in the United States.
But ahead of the highly anticipated matchup between the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the annual Pro Bowl Games, led by none other than two members of the First Family of Football — Peyton and Eli Manning — were held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
Peyton Manning served as the head coach of the AFC, while Eli Manning was the NFC’s frontman. The games included flag football, tug-of-war, the Madden NFL 25 challenge, an obstacle course, and the Punt Perfect showdown. Though Eli’s team ultimately came out on top for the third consecutive year, a Mississippian scored an individual victory for the elder Manning brother.
Logan Cooke, a Mississippi State punter turned prolific Jacksonville Jaguar, was the center of attention during the Punt Perfect event as he went toe-to-toe with Detroit Lions’ booter Jack Fox, one of the NFL’s most reliable punters, in landing a football in one of the six barrels situated in a triangular position. The two squared off in the second round after San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk and Baltimore Ravens defensive back Marlon Humphrey tied in the non-punters phase of the contest.
Round two ended in a draw with Cooke and Fox scoring seven points apiece, forcing overtime. Fox landed three balls in a barrel in overtime. Cooke, with a potential loss staring him in the face, was clutch in the waning moments of his 30-second allotment, sending the competition to a sudden-death round.
Each punter missed his first two shots in extras. But you know what they say — the third time is a charm — and that rang true for the Columbia, Miss. native. Cooke drained his third attempt and Fox was unsuccessful in his counter, earning a thrilling win for the AFC.
Wild ending. Logan Cooke wins Punt Perfect in double OT for the AFC!
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“At the end of the day, everyone came here for a punt-off. I’m glad we were able to give them that,” Cooke said after his big win. “Jack [Fox] did a great job. My heart has never beaten so fast behind a punt unit before.”
Ahead of the contest, Peyton Manning selected Cooke as the punting specialist largely because of his SEC experience. Cooke spent his collegiate years as an integral member of Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs before being selected by the Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The All-Pro has remained in Jacksonville and is widely considered one of the most efficient players in his position.
“I was never nervous. I knew these guys were going to take care of business,” Peyton Manning said. “They wanted to help the ratings on ESPN by kind of keeping the drama in it, but we had it the whole time. Logan [Cooke] came through in the clutch. It was awesome.”
