Funding Dance…Through Football

Michael Morris, Jr., a dance student at the prestigious Boston Conservatory, is looking for ways to fund his education. But he’s not just going through the usual scholarship channels.

Instead, he’s setting his sights on football—the “Dr. Pepper Giveaway” football-throwing contest, to be precise.

For the past few months, Morris has been working on his football arm for 45 minutes every day, preparing for a chance to win $100,000 of tuition money by throwing footballs into a big ol’ Dr. Pepper can.

Tomorrow, he’ll travel to Arizona to challenge four other wannabes in the semifinals. If his aim is as good as his dancing, he’ll advance to the final round on Saturday afternoon.

And it looks like his dancing is pretty good! (screenshot via YouTube)

This is not some pipe dream, either: He’s pretty darn talented. Apparently he can now toss off 20 footballs in 30 seconds, and usually about eight of them will make it into his mock-up barrel.

Check out this video of Michael practicing for his big moment. We don’t know the appropriate send-off for a dancer-turned-footballer, but just to cover all the bases: Good luck! Break a leg! Merde!