The Cayman Islands is set to host the 2007 DIRECTV NFL Quarterback Challenge this Saturday, 19 May, at the Cayman Islands International School Park. “We are thrilled the NFL has chosen the playing field at the Cayman International School as the venue for this year’s Quarterback Challenge,” says Jackie Doak, Executive Vice President of Dart Realty, the developers of the new town at Camana Bay where the school is located. “One of our primary goals in building professional grade sporting facilities at Camana Bay was to make them available not only to the school but also to the local community, both as a place to play sport and to host to international games. We hope this will be the first of many such events at Camana Bay.” The 2007 Directv NFL Quarterback Challenge From The Cayman Islands will see the NFL’s premiere quarterbacks take to the field to compete in four skills competitions: Accuracy, Speed and Mobility, Long Distance Throw and No Huddle. Top NFL receivers will also participate in the No Huddle competition, as recipients of passes from the quarterbacks. Residents of the Cayman Islands and guests who are here to witness this historical event – the first time the Quarterback Challenge has ever been filmed in an international location – will see great quarterbacks such as Jason Campbell (Washington Redskins), Jake Delhomme (Carolina Panthers), Charlie Frye (Cleveland Browns), Tarvaris Jackson (Minnesota Vikings), Brad Johnson (Dallas Cowboys), Byron Leftwich (Jacksonville Jaguars), Alex Smith (San Francisco 49ers), and Michael Vick (Atlanta Falcons) competing. To add to the excitement they will be completing passes to show stopping wide receivers such as Braylon Edwards (Cleveland Browns), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cincinnati Bengals) and Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals), and Brandon Lloyd (Washington Redskins). Loyal NFL fans will need little to no introduction to the players or the skills, but for those who enjoy NFL Football but don’t watch every single game during football season following is a brief synopsis of what you can expect: The "Accuracy" competition involves the quarterbacks throwing at moving targets (golf carts with big inflatable bull’s eyes attached). The targets are spread out at different distances (10 yards, 20 yards, 40 yards, etc.). The object is to try to hit the centre of the bull’s eye on each target. Points are awarded for hitting the outer bands as well (think of an archery target) … and “He who gets the most points wins”. In the "Speed and Mobility" portion, the quarterbacks have a serpentine of cones to run, all the while throwing at targets. The winner is the quarterback who runs the course in the fastest time, with the least amount of errors (target misses). "Long Distance Throw" tests the quarterbacks’ ability to accurately throw the ball deep. Each quarterback will get :30 seconds to throw nine balls approximately 45 yards down the field into a 5’ x 5’ bucket. To qualify as a completed throw, the ball must land in the catch basket. If the ball hits inside the catch basket, but bounces out, it will still be considered a completed pass. The quarterback with the most completed passes into the catch basked will be declared the winner. The "No Huddle" is a timed event in which each quarterback is paired with a wide receiver and taken through a progression of throws. The competition, which will be filmed May 19 at Cayman Islands International School Park, will first air 7–9 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 3 on ESPN, followed by additional airings in August, September, and October 2007. NFL Network also will air the two–hour special throughout August. Tickets will be available from the Department of Tourism offices, located at Regatta Office Park on Friday 11 May and cost $25.00 for adults and $10.00 for children. The NFL Quarterback challenge Mark and Jayne Woollard moved last year to the Cayman Islands and hence found the recent NFL Quarterback challenge event to be right on their doorstep last weekend. The results, as I said before won't be announced in the press yet, but we can have some fun with those in August. Tavaris Jackson and Jake Delholmme didn't take part, Brad Johnson and Josh McCowan replaced them. TJ whosyamumma missed his plane hence Michael Clayton flying out on the day of the competition and arriving 'just' in time to do the 4th challenge, the 'no huddle' which required four wide receivers. The NFL organisers must have been panicking as he only rocked up with about 15 minutes to go to the final challenge! Braylon Edwards didn't catch a pass all afternoon as he was so pissed the night before in Next Level night club that he collapsed! Most QB's still walked over to him to shake his hand after the attempt he did for them, but Alex Smith who was challenging for top spot just gave him a look and walked off! Top marks to- Byron Leftwich - Ungainly, but boy can he throw a ball, Way further than anyone else that was there, but that was it !! But he was also a top, top guy and had fun the whole time. Brandon Lloyd (Skins) - Would have spent all day answering questions and caught almost every errant ball thrown to him, nice guy who i'll look out for next season. Mr Clayton - made a real fuss of the local kids in attendance, a real fuss. They cheered his every catch and he in turn provided hi 5's and autographs, made me proud to be a Buc fan. Every time he walked past the press area me and my mate Jay from Cayman Radio did the ...Tampa .............. Bay ........... Tampa .... Bay .....chant to which he smiled. He was kind with my interview and sound bite requests - top man (and he was only there for an hour) !!! Alex Smith - Top draw Quarterback........ period I felt privileged to be so close to these guys and it was a well cool experience .......... bring on the season! Click here for all the pictures of the event