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from The Hill
September 24, 2019
NFL veteran John Booty whips lawmakers into shape ahead of Congressional Football Game
by JUDY KURTZ
A word to the wise for lawmakers: Don't be tardy for any party with former NFL player John Booty.
The ex-Philadelphia Eagle is one of the coaches for Tuesday's Congressional Football Game, in which members of Congress and former pigskin pros face off against U.S. Capitol Police. The biennial competition raises money for the families of fallen Capitol Police officers, as well as other nonprofits.
But at a recent breakfast hosted by The Ripon Society and the Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange to promote the showdown, Booty took a boot camp-style approach to some late arrivals.
When Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) showed up just slightly behind schedule, Booty exclaimed, "When you show up late, you have to do push-ups!”
Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general who's playing in Tuesday's game, immediately dropped to the ground, to applause from the crowd.
"Anybody else show up late?" Booty then asked the audience with a wide grin.
Suddenly, Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), a brigadier general in the Ohio Army National Guard and another player hitting the football field for the charity game, was seen working his pectorals. The crowd counted out four push-ups for Stivers, before urging him to slow down.
Kickoff for the Congressional Football Game is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hotchkiss Field at Gallaudet University in Washington.
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Additional coverage of Thursday’s breakfast & tonight’s game can also be found in the Washington Times.
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The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 -- Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of the Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people. For more information on the Ripon Society, please visit http://www.riponsociety.org.
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