Saenz, Kiel join all-star football fraternity

Doug Cosbie, Jeff Toews and Erik Howard have all played in the Super Bowl.

Carl Monroe, Randy Kirk and Jeff Garcia have all played for the San Francisco 49ers.

And Jeff Toews, Rich Campbell and Tim Ryan have all played in the National Football League.

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Football all-stars: Former local stars who have participated in the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game.

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But the members of this elite group share more than just an NFL connection. They were all players in the summer high school classic, now known as the Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game.

The game, billed as the "Best Game in Town" by its sponsor, the Almaden Valley Rotary Club, will return for its 26th year when a new group of all-stars takes the field on July 26, 7:30 p.m., at San Jose State University's Spartan Stadium.

The classic began in the summer of 1974 and, with the exception of 1976, the game has been played every summer since.

"The Best Game in Town" has featured over a dozen players (among them, Cosbie of St. Francis, Don Schwartz of Mitty, Toews of Del Mar, Campbell of Santa Teresa, Monroe of Overfelt, Greg Woodard of Silver Creek, John Tuggle of Independence, Ben Bennett of Peterson, John Faylor of Mitty, Garcia of Gilroy, Howard of Bellarmine, Kirk of Bellarmine, Ryan of Oak Grove and Tillman of Leland) who have gone on to the NFL, and a couple more (Ken Caminiti of Leigh and Bill Haselman of Saratoga) who have gone on to play major league baseball.

Countless players have gone on to succeed at the college level with a number of them playing in major bowl games, and many players have gone on to become successful football coaches.

Millard Hampton, one player of Silver Creek, even went on to strike Olympic gold.

Local players set to join the impressive list of high school all-stars in the summer classic include area stars Leo Saenz of Fremont and Tony Kiel of Homestead.

Only time will tell if any of the players in the 2000 lineup will go on to further success at either the collegiate or professional level, but they will most certainly join a prestigious fraternity of football all-stars who have made the game a local success for almost three decades.

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Saenz, Kiel join all-stars football fraternity