"We wanted to let you know that Jared has been featured in "Faces in the Crowd" in this month's upcoming Sports Illustrated for Kids. I am not sure when it will hit the shelves. However, the subscribers have received their issues. It is a very nice write-up and picture. He will also be in the February issue. We recently had a photo shoot at Family First with 10 other Erie kids playing touch football. Jared was also interviewed regarding his
fitness tips."

Best wishes to one of Erie's rising young media stars.

Here is our story about Jared from January:

This kid is just bowled over

By JOHN DUDLEY
john.dudley@timesnews.com

Jared Doutt rode the highs and lows of the NFL postseason this past week.

The 10-year-old Erie resident's favorite team, the San Diego Chargers, lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game on Sunday.

But unlike the player whose jersey he proudly wears -- San Diego running back Ladainian Tomlinson -- Doutt is heading to the Super Bowl anyway.

Doutt knew days before the Patriots beat the Chargers that his ticket had been punched to Glendale, Ariz., site of Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3.

An NFL representative called a week ago Monday to inform the family that Doutt, a fourth-grader at Grandview Elementary School in Millcreek Township, had been randomly selected from more than 50,000 entries in the league's NFL Play 60 sweepstakes.

New this year, NFL Play 60 is part of the league's program to fight obesity and promote active lifestyles among kids. Doutt, who swims, takes piano lessons and plays soccer, basketball, baseball and golf, registered in November while surfing the league's Web site for another contest.

"I thought I would enter for fun," Doutt said, "but I never, ever thought I would win."

He did, and now he and his mother, Bridget Mooney; his stepfather, Dave Bryan; his 4-year-old sister, Jemma; and Mooney's father, Pat, are Arizona-bound.

The family leaves Jan. 29 for seven days and six nights, part of which Jared will spend making appearances for NFL Play 60 and keeping an online journal for the league's Web site. The NFL will provide three tickets to the game and cover nearly all of the family's other expenses.

Doutt will be on the field for pregame activities and will hand the ball to the official before kickoff. He will remain on the sideline with his mom, a Patriots fan, and his grandfather for part of the first half before they are escorted to their seats, an NFL spokesman said Monday.

"It will be a pretty unbelievable experience," said Peter O'Reilly, the league's director of marketing. "We're just thrilled with Jared and the fact that he's such a big fan and that he really fits the (NFL Play 60) initiative on our end."

The past week has been a roller coaster for Doutt and his family, Bridget Mooney said.

After learning Jan. 14 that he had been selected, Jared wasn't allowed to tell friends at school until late the next afternoon, after the NFL had confirmed his selection and his parents had returned a notarized affidavit verifying that he gets at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day.

Then, on Saturday, came news that his paternal grandmother had died of a stroke in Ocala, Fla. Karen N. Doutt, 61, was an Erie resident who was a mainstay at Doutt's soccer and baseball games. Her obituary appears on page 4B.

"He's been through quite a week," said Mooney, a guidance counselor at Perseus House Charter School. "I think with everything that's been going on with the Super Bowl trip, though, it's provided an outlet to help him deal with it."

The family has managed to enjoy a few light moments. One came Sunday when Jared and Bridget watched the AFC Championship game together, each rooting against the other's team.

Once the Chargers lost, Doutt took up sides against Bridget and the Patriots for the Super Bowl.

"I don't like the Packers," Doutt said. "If they would have won, I would have wanted the Patriots to win. Now I want the Giants to win."

Bridget Mooney, a Massachusetts native who grew up about 90 minutes from Boston, rolled her eyes.

"He's misguided," she joked. "I guess I haven't done my job."

JOHN DUDLEY can be reached at 870-1677 or by e-mail.

-- John Dudley