Gilroy
– George Cnudde says he may have to re-think his allegiance.
Gilroy – George Cnudde says he may have to re-think his allegiance.
The longtime Oakland Raiders’ fan and three-year Gilroy resident was winner of a contest run jointly by South Valley Newspapers and the Gavilan College Educational Foundation. Cnudde and his wife, Brenda, will be on the trip to the 2007 Pro Bowl that will be hosted by Gilroy native Jeff Garcia.
The trip is part of a promotion sponsored by the GCEF. Thirty people signed up for the trip Feb. 8-12 to Hawaii that will include a reception hosted by Garcia as well as a Pro Bowl VIP party, gift packages from the Philadelphia Eagles and an opportunity spend time with NFL players.
Cnudde’s name was picked in a drawing from subscribers of South Valley Newspapers (Gilroy Dispatch, Hollister Free Lance and Morgan Hill Times) who signed up for one year on the EZ Pay Plan.
“We’ve been talking about making this trip for 10 years,” said George Cnudde, Operations Manager at Snap-On Diagnostics. “Meeting Jeff adds icing on the cake.”
Brenda Cnudde doesn’t have a favorite team but she is a big pro football fan.
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” she said of the Pro Bowl trip. “I’m a big NFL fan in general. (Garcia) did such a great job for the Eagles. They were lucky to have him.”
The group will meet at the home of Garcia’s parents, Bob and Linda, and take a bus to San Francisco International Airport.
“Jeff was eager to assist with this,” said Ken Berry, executive director of the Gavilan foundation. “This was something we talked about and Jeff said he was willing to do. He’s a very giving guy who’s still a small-town boy living a dream.”
Garcia guided the Eagles to a 6-2 finish to a season that ended with a 3-point loss to the New Orleans Saints in the second round of the NFC playoffs. He will be a free agent in March and has talked about wanting to return to Philadelphia. At the same time, several teams are reportedly interested in signing Garcia to be their starting quarterback.
This was the first venture of this type partnered by Garcia and the GCEF. The 36-year-old Garcia, who now lives in Manhattan Beach, will accompany the group making the trip from San Francisco to Hawaii. Garcia, who played quarterback for his dad, Bob, for one year at Gavilan, is in discussions with Berry and others about ways he can help the athletic program at the school.
Dean Filice, who will be taking the excursion with his wife, Katherine, used to play basketball with Garcia and also participated in the golf tournament that Garcia ran for two years at Eagle Ridge.
“I have never been to the Pro Bowl so I’m very excited,” said Dean Filice, a 49ers season ticketholder who watched the Eagles games when San Francisco was on the road. “He (Garcia) gave us that rooting feeling again, even though the 49ers were not in (the playoff race).
“It should be a pretty cool experience. We only get four days to take a lot in. We’ll be around not just the group that is going but with NFL players we can mingle with and get the feel of what they go through. Also, there will be a movie theater set up on the beach right after the game where we can watch football movies.”
