By Leah Abraham

Reporter

Nine-year-old Riley Ottele thought it was a little strange when his parents walked into his lunchroom at St. Anthony’s Elementary.

When his father handed him a phone, saying that there was a call for him, Ottele was very confused.

He stepped out of the lunchroom and answered the call.

“Hi, my name is Trent Dilfer,” said the voice over the phone.

Ottele’s mouth dropped in disbelief. He knew that Dilfer was a former quarterback for teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks and currently is an NFL analyst for ESPN. Ottele also knew that if Dilfer was calling him, he must have just won himself a ticket to the Super Bowl.

Ottele had entered the Panini Super Bowl Kid Reporter Contest, a contest run by Panini America, a sports and entertainment collectables company. The winner of the contest wins two tickets to see the Super Bowl and a chance to interview the players.

Ten lucky winners were randomly selected from a Panini sweepstakes and were asked to record a short video showcasing their interviewing skills, sharing the types of questions they would ask the athlete.

“I was nervous when I made the top 10 because I was kind of scared,” Ottele said.

Ottele says that he was completely shocked when Dilfer, special ambassador and coach for Panini’s Kid Reporter contest, called him.

“He [Dilfer] said, ‘Congratulations, you won the Kid Reporter contest,’ and I was like, ‘Oh! Thanks! Oh my gosh I’m really excited!” Ottele said.

In the video, Ottele shares that his favorite team is the Denver Broncos and that one of the questions he hopes to ask the athletes is what kind of breakfast they eat before a game.

“It tells you a lot about their personality,” Ottele said. “It’s also nice to know what breakfast is good to eat, so whatever they say, I’ll probably eat that a lot.”

“With more than 120,000 entries in this year’s Panini Super Bowl Kid Reporter contest, Riley overcame amazing odds to just become a top 10 finalist,” said Jason Howarth, vice president of marketing for Panini America. “His video submission that a number of Panini executives and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer voted on was more than impressive. Riley clearly demonstrated creativity in his proposed questions to ask NFL players and has ability to relate them to Panini NFL trading cards. That set him apart from the rest of the finalists. We can’t wait to work with him in San Francisco.”

The contest has been gaining Ottele some popularity at school. “Everyone at school was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so awesome’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I guess.’” said Ottele. “They’re getting kind of jealous but they’re just having fun with me.”

Ottele said that even though he is nervous to interview the athletes, he is very excited to watch the game and interview Peyton Manning, his second favorite player.

“My absolute favorite player is John Elway, one of the former quarterbacks for the Broncos” Ottele said. “He was the Super Bowl MVP and one of the best quarterbacks of all times, and I really like him.”

Apart from watching previous contest winners’ interview videos, Ottele said he’s preparing by practicing his reporting skills with his parents. Ottele is also glad that he will be interviewing the players alongside Dilfer. “He is the kid-helper,” Ottele said. “He helps you do all the sweeping through the crowd and stuff.”

Ottele has an impressive collection of NFL trading cards, three drawers full of them to be exact. A collector since two years ago, Ottele has arranged his favorite cards neatly on a cork board, and has organized the rest systematically in his drawers. His favorite card include a signed Tarrell Davis and Garrett Grayson collectibles.

Ottele is also a Pokemon card collector. “I’m actually a two-time city champion in Pokemon,” Otelle said with a shy, yet proud smile. “I’ve already qualified for the world championships.” Ottele plans to attend the championships in San Francisco later this year.

Even with a potential Pokemon championship title under his belt this year, Ottele’s love for sports is second to none. At recess, Ottele says he finds himself playing baseball or kickball, and that he hopes to continue playing sports throughout middle school and high school, and perhaps beyond.

“I want to be a football player,” said Ottele. “But I think the problem is that they’re always getting hurt. Probably a (football) placekicker or an engineer like my mom. But my goal is definitely toward sports.