La Conner second grader snags NFL swag

A La Conner youth sports standout is already on the radar of all 32 National Football League teams.

And soon he will attract that same kind of attention from major league baseball.

Cassius Landworth, a second grader in teacher Stacy Silver's classroom, has received an impressive collection of memorabilia from some of the nation's most famous and popular sports franchises.

It started last fall when Cash, as he's known to friends and family, decided to write to each of the NFL teams. It was no easy task. He had to reference their mailing addresses and compose letters unique to each organization.

He did so at home, on his own time.

"Cash is really determined when he decides to do something," the eight-year-old's proud mom, Crista Landworth, told the Weekly News.

Cash first wrote the Buffalo Bills. After school and between youth soccer matches, he sent off correspondence to all the teams, whose televised games he has watched since before he started kindergarten.

It didn't take long for the NFL to respond.

The Pittsburgh Steelers sent an autographed photo of All-Pro T.J. Watt. The New York Giants mailed a photo signed by two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Eli Manning. The Tennessee Titans weighed in with a hefty team yearbook.

The Dallas Cowboys contributed both a team photo and one of their famous cheerleaders to boot.

The Green Bay Packers, not to be outdone, sent mailing addresses of individual players, including quarterback Jordan Love. The Packers also shared with the young sports star – in addition to soccer, he excels in football, basketball and baseball – a full-page letter with the salutation: "Dear Cassius."

The Packers paid $5 in postage to ship their package to Cash.

"It was really fun to get the mail," Crista Landworth reflected. "It was great how some of what they sent was so personalized."

The hometown Seattle Seahawks likewise sent souvenir gifts up I-5 to their elementary school fan, whose first grid idol was Russell Wilson, the team's former quarterback.

Cash had already started a sports collection with a football autographed by Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, a future Hall of Famer.

Cash has turned his letter-writing experience into lessons in English and geography. He has plotted their locations on a map of the United States.

He has also extended the lesson – moving on to big league baseball: He is now writing to MLB teams much as he did the pro football organizations.

"He likes all sports," his mom confirms. "When I ask him what his favorite sport is, it's always the one that he's playing at the time."

Narrowing down a favorite team is more difficult. They've all treated Cash well. And he didn't single out just one or two to contact.

"I just decided," explained Cash, "why not write to all the NFL teams?"

He'll use the same formula with MLB. And this spring, if Cash happens to come down with a sore arm, it might be due as much to his writing as his throwing.