Jason Campbell bowls. I bowl. We're practically friends!

by Skin Patrol on Jun 15, 2007 11:36 AM EDT

Honesty and full disclosure demands I admit to not bowling that frequently, and when I do put on my bowling shoes I usually suck it up. My average is below 100. Which is strange, given my pedigree; my mother has bragged repeatedly that my grandfather once bowled a perfect 300, no easy task.

Anyways, character piece on Jason Campbell in this morning's Post is gushing with praise and anectodes and is well worth the few minutes it takes to tackle the entire article. For instance, did you know that Jason Campbell was a bowler?

...Campbell and [Jason's girlfriend, Miss District of Columbia Mercedes] Lindsay accepted an invitation to a neighborhood cookout (Campbell, a bachelor who disdains leftovers, is a frequent dinner guest around his housing development). There, the 25th overall pick of the 2005 draft boasted good-naturedly about his bowling prowess with some high school students.

As you might imagine, this descended quickly into an actual contest, to be settled at what should become the most popular bowling alley in the United States:

"After a while we decided to go hang out for a second and put all the trash talking to rest and see who won," Campbell said. "So we went to the bowling alley and settled it. One of the kids whupped everybody -- I can't take credit for beating him -- but the kid who was talking trash, yeah, I took care of him."

Tight end Chris Cooley happened to walk into the establishment in the midst of it all.

"There's all these families and kids, like a neighborhood bowling party, and there's Jason bowling with them," Cooley said. "It was hilarious. That's Jason, him and Miss Washington, D.C., out there bowling with, like, 12 kids from the neighborhood. He's just such a down-to-earth guy."

So let's get straight on this, Jason Campbell challenges shit-talking would-be bowling master to battle, takes him to said bowling alley and settles matter, though while there Chris Cooley just happens to mosey on in? Is it a common theme for two of my favorite Redskins to just happen to be at this particular bowling parlor at the exact same time? This is the kind of spontaneous Redskins sighting that I could be a part of, unlike Dan Snyder's Super Bowl party at the Versace Mansion (we've all been there, right?), which is where JC mixes things up with the likes of Tom Cruise, that is when he's not out bowling with local youths:

"[Tom Cruise] asked me what you look at as a quarterback from the first point when you go to the line," Campbell said, "and I tell him everything you're looking for and everything you're looking at, and he's like in awe, you know? And I'm like, 'Shoot, I don't know why you're in awe, with all those movie lines you've got to learn and all the stunts you have to do.' "

But what does Jason think of zee Scientology? That's what we want to know.

By all accounts, it sounds as if Jason Campbell is humble, talented, hard-working, universally well-liked, and recognizable both locally and elsewhere along multiple social strata (millionaire actors and local hoodlums alike). All this should make him a prime candidate for DC's Top Athlete which, incidentally, he rolled in at numero cinco per the Bogger:

5) Jason Campbell: The Redskins' popularity so dwarfs that of any other team, that I think they demand two players in the Top 5. Although I'm not happy with this choice, because I think he still has paltry name recognition among non-sports fans. But who else would qualify? No kid would say Chris Samuels or Jon Jansen is his favorite local athlete. Sean Taylor has renown, but people are afraid to embrace him, literally and figuratively. And if the Skins go deep into the playoffs, Campbell could easily assume the top spot on this list by next January, which is why he has to be on here.

You can bank on this: Jason Campbell is moving on up. Whether I'm talking about his development as a professional quarterback, his standing among Scientologists, or rank on subjective D.C. "top"ness lists is immaterial. Answer: D) all of the above.

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