BRODHEAD - It didn't have the intensity of a Packers-Bears game, but there was some good-natured rivalry Saturday as area firemen and police officers faced off in a flag football game at Brodhead High School.
Firefighters from Brodhead, Monroe and Orfordville took the field against police officers from Brodhead, Monroe, New Glarus, Albany, the Green County Sheriff's Department and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
They played for more than bragging rights. They played to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis and for Nicholas Welty, a 4-year-old Monroe boy who has the disease.
His father, Eric, was one of the firefighters on the field Saturday.
"Our goal is to raise $2,000, but I hope we blow that out," Nicholas' mom, Rena Welty, said.
According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. The average person with the disease will live to be 39 years old, and there is no cure, Welty said.
By raising money and awareness, she and the others who volunteered to play football or donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hope to someday see a cure.
For a good cause, officers and firefighters agreed to show off their football skills - and maybe risk some embarrassment along the way - and have some fun.
"We didn't ask any (of the players) if they were in shape to do this," Welty joked. "Maybe we should have."
The players couldn't wait to take the field, but there were a few who seemed to have second thoughts about what they had gotten into.
Officer Grant Wolff from the Brodhead Police Department looked around at his team and then at the firefighters as they practiced before the game.
"I need a little more conditioning," he laughed.
The game featured some solid blocks, a few acrobatic catches, some long runs and even a few tackles, despite the fact it was a flag football game.
"Hey, do us a favor," one police officer laughed as he yelled to friend on the sideline, "pull the fire alarm."
Firefighters from Brodhead, Monroe and Orfordville took the field against police officers from Brodhead, Monroe, New Glarus, Albany, the Green County Sheriff's Department and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
They played for more than bragging rights. They played to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis and for Nicholas Welty, a 4-year-old Monroe boy who has the disease.
His father, Eric, was one of the firefighters on the field Saturday.
"Our goal is to raise $2,000, but I hope we blow that out," Nicholas' mom, Rena Welty, said.
According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. The average person with the disease will live to be 39 years old, and there is no cure, Welty said.
By raising money and awareness, she and the others who volunteered to play football or donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hope to someday see a cure.
For a good cause, officers and firefighters agreed to show off their football skills - and maybe risk some embarrassment along the way - and have some fun.
"We didn't ask any (of the players) if they were in shape to do this," Welty joked. "Maybe we should have."
The players couldn't wait to take the field, but there were a few who seemed to have second thoughts about what they had gotten into.
Officer Grant Wolff from the Brodhead Police Department looked around at his team and then at the firefighters as they practiced before the game.
"I need a little more conditioning," he laughed.
The game featured some solid blocks, a few acrobatic catches, some long runs and even a few tackles, despite the fact it was a flag football game.
"Hey, do us a favor," one police officer laughed as he yelled to friend on the sideline, "pull the fire alarm."