By Ryan O’connor
Joey Dudek of Auburn has no immediate gridiron plans. That doesn’t mean the son of former Plymouth State standout, Heisman Trophy finalist and Denver Broncos running back Joe Dudek isn’t using his football pedigree to great advantage.
Joey Dudek, 11, won the 10- and 11-year-old division of the local NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium in Manchester on Aug. 7. He also won the sectional competition in Bristol, R.I., on Oct. 14. Then he took the practice field at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 28 prior to the New England Patriots game against the Washington Redskins.
There, after receiving three complimentary tickets to the game for reaching the regional competition, Joey beat all competitors to put himself in position to advance to the national final.
“Punt, pass and kick, for a free type of event, is really first class,” said the senior Dudek. “I mean, it was great to get the tickets to the game and have the opportunity to really enjoy the experience.”
Joey must now wait. His score of 277, which combines his punting, passing and kicking distances, is currently No. 2 in the country.
Fifteen groups of aspiring athletes have competed to date, but there are still 17 groups left. The top four scorers compete at an AFC playoff game in January.
“We’re watching the scoreboard because if he has to start practicing again, we have to find a warm place to do it,” said Joe Dudek.
While elated with his showing at the competition thus far, Joey said the experience has its drawbacks.
“It’s exciting, but I’m frustrated I have to wait to hear if I make the finals or not,” he said. “I kind of wanted to be one of the last people to go, so I had a better idea of what I had to beat.”
Joey’s mother, Jodi, said her son nearly didn’t compete.
“We’ve asked him every year, and each year it’s, ‘No, I think I’m all set.’ But a couple days before the event this year he decided, ‘Yeah, I’ll give it a try,’” she said.
Still, Joey is the first to admit he’d rather be playing hockey or lacrosse.
In addition to his father’s storied football accomplishments, his mother played high school softball and basketball and college field hockey, where she received an Olympic invite before injuring her knee.
“He’s got a nice combo (of athletic genes), and he is a good athlete who seems to pick up any game and do very well after practicing for just a little while,” said Joey’s father. “He works very hard at all the sports he puts the time into.”
In addition to excelling on his travel hockey and lacrosse teams, the sixth-grader tried out for and made the middle school ice hockey team in Derry.
And that is just fine with his father, who said he and his wife encourage Joey and his 7-year-old sister, Taylor, who has already developed a fondness for competitive swimming, to participate in whatever they enjoy.
“I didn’t play organized football until sophomore year in high school, and frankly, if you’re a good athlete, you can take it up right away,” said the former Plymouth State star. “So I’d rather see him take it up later and enjoy now what he wants to do, especially with hockey and lacrosse being sports where you have to develop skill at an earlier stage to be successful.”