Bear, mother grab most soup

Brian Urlacher and his mom win an event designed to raise awareness of hunger.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 22, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher strapped his mother into a giant shopping cart, clasped his hands, cracked his knuckles then prepared to battle an area of makeshift supermarket aisles inside the San Diego Convention Center.

Ready. Set. Go.

Forty-five seconds later, Urlacher and his mother, Lavoyda, were finishing what turned out to be the winning performance in Tuesday's Campbell's Chunky soup "Souper" Market showdown, one of the many festivities during Super Bowl week.

Urlacher, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, Steelers running back Jerome Bettis and Giants defensive end Michael Strahan squared off with their mothers in the competition to help raise awareness of hunger in the United States.

"It was great. It was so much fun," Urlacher's mother said. "I had a blast. I was a little nervous with Brian driving. Sometimes, I worry about him because he is a little rough and rambunctious. But he did okay. I give him credit."

In theory, the rules were simple. After collecting the cans, the players had to maneuver the carts around tight corners and to a large bin, where the cans were deposited for credit.

The players wore four colors, red, green, yellow and blue, and could collect soup cans only from rows with their respective colors. Violators were penalized five points.

In a scene complete with youth cheerleaders, the players had 45 seconds to accomplish their mission.

Urlacher proved to be a smooth technician. He grabbed dozens of cans in his massive forearms and threw them into the cart in bulk then arrived at the bin with 25 seconds left, giving himself and his mother time to earn credit for 62 cans.

Bettis and his mother, Gladys, took the early lead with 24 cans but couldn't hold it. After the competition, he walked the aisles, retracing his strategical errors and trying to figure out how they could have been avoided.

"I just want a good idea of the number of cans that were in each row and look and see where my game plan failed," Bettis said. "I think in terms of being a competitor, you always have to look at yourself first. That's something I've always done and the way I play the game."

Actually, the person who should have been looking at himself was McNabb.

He and his mother, Wilma, blew their shot. McNabb couldn't navigate the sharp aisles, and the two never made it to the bins to deposit the cans.

He made two attempts at shooting the cans like a basketball, missing both.

Strahan and his mother, Louise, gave Urlacher the stiffest competition with 49 cans.

"Forty-nine?" Strahan said. "That's it?"

Okay, it did seem like more.

During the past six years, Campbell's has donated 26-million cans of Chunky Soup to America's Second Harvest, the largest network of hunger relief agencies in the country.

The company is trying to provide aid to the 23-million Americans annually who turn to food banks for assistance.

With four "Tackling Hunger" campaigns this season, Campbell's will donate 6,148,783 cans to Second Harvest. The 3,500 cans used Tuesday were donated to local agencies.

All of the players and their mothers are part of the nationwide Chunky Soup advertising campaign.

"Have you seen the commercial?" Urlacher said. "(My mom) does all the work. I just stand there and smile.

"That's the best part of this, being able to show off your mom, the person who has been there and done so much for you."