In the blink of an eye, you might miss it.
But many coins being tossed at high school, college and professional football games -- including the Dallas Cowboys' Monday Night Football game -- this weekend will have one thing in common: Ronald Reagan.The sports world is helping celebrate the 100th year since the birth of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, by using specially minted Reagan Centennial coins."I want to encourage every football organization in the United States to stand together and honor the legacy of this great American, Ronald Reagan," said Lou Holtz, a college football Hall of Famer and a co-chairman of the Reagan coin toss celebration. "We all could learn a thing or two from his example."Reagan, who died in 2004, played high school football in Illinois and worked as a college football radio broadcaster early in his career. He also starred in movies such as Knute Rockne: All American, in which he uttered the line that would be forever linked to him: "Win one for the Gipper."Professional teams such as the Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cowboys will watch the toss of the commemorative Reagan coin at their next games.For the Cowboys, that toss comes at 7:30 Monday night, when they face the Washington Redskins at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington."We are proud to recognize the 100th anniversary of President Reagan's birth with the commemorative coin being flipped for the game against Washington," said Rich Dalrymple, a spokesman for the Cowboys. "There is nothing more American than the Cowboys and Redskins on Monday Night Football, and that makes it a fitting stage to honor a great American president and sportsman -- Ronald Reagan."One side of the coin bears Reagan's likeness, and the other notes that the coin is for the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration.Texas colleges planning to use the Reagan coin at games this weekend include Baylor, Rice, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, the University of Texas, Texas Southern University and Texas Tech.Among the local high schools: Burleson, Crowley, Glen Rose, L.D. Bell in Hurst, Weatherford, Diamond Hill-Jarvis, Castleberry, North Crowley, Saginaw, South Hills, Everman and Boswell, according to the Reagan Presidential Foundation."The National Football Coin Toss celebrates the values that football teaches such as leadership, teamwork and drive, which Ronald Reagan embraced and exemplified throughout his life," said Stewart McLaurin, executive director of the foundation's Centennial Celebration.Anna M. Tinsley,817-390-7610Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
