The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Robert Scheer

49er Merton Hanks signs Justin Mardesich's jacket at Collins Elementary School, while classmate Janet Hu watches.

SF 49er scores some friends at Collins School

By Katherine Petersen

Kids crowded around second-grader Justin Mardesich and his new friend, San Francisco 49er Merton Hanks, at Collins Elementary School Dec. 9.

Mardesich won the honor of having the All-Pro defensive back come to school with him by putting his name in a box at the Vallco Fashion Park JCPenney, the store that sponsored the Take an NFL Player to School Sweepstakes. Mardesich's name was drawn from nearly 10,000 entries.

Hanks walked down the center aisle of the multipurpose room at Collins high-fiving kids before giving an inspirational speech to the school's students in the upper grades. He emphasized the importance of staying in school and told the kids that he was a regular guy who worked like their parents during the off-season.

Mardesich gave Hanks a tour of the Collins playground, where he stopped to shoot a basket and meet some of Mardesich's friends.

"He was so nice. He was my buddy. He, like, stuck to me," Mardesich said.

Hanks spent an hour in Mardesich's classroom handing out hats and autographing anything the kids had handy.

Along with the school visit, Mardesich won a jacket that Hanks signed, four tickets to a 49ers game against the Minnesota Vikings, a wooden trophy with his name on it and $1,000 for his school from JCPenney.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 17, 1997.
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