Final Results of Austin Hardware's 9th Annual Charity Football Pool
Posted by Rob Dell'Elmo on Feb 6th 2025
Winner Kyle Schultz Selects Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Receive Donation
With the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles preparing to meet this Sunday, we wanted to take the opportunity to share the results of our 9th Annual Austin Hardware® Charity Football Pool.
Kyle Schultz from Saint Charles, IA, is the winner of our pool and has chosen the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to receive a donation in his name from Austin Hardware and our sponsors.
It took 15 weeks of the '24-'25 season to determine a winner, and Kyle outlasted runner-up Bill Buraczewski in the most dramatic fashion. Each player was on opposite sides of an exciting game that was decided, literally, on the final play.
The game took place in New Orleans between the eventual NFC runners-up, Washington Commanders, and the New Orleans Saints. The Saints, trailing by 7 with just under 2 minutes remaining, drove 56 yards in 12 plays to score a touchdown as the game clock hit 0:00. Now, trailing by a point, New Orleans opted to go for the win by attempting a 2-point conversion. With the game and the result of our pool lying in the balance, the Saints' 2-point try failed, giving the game to Washington and the pool victory to Kyle.
Austin Hardware® has hosted our Charity Football Pool in nine of the last ten years, with a pause in 2020 due to the pandemic. This event promotes engagement with our customers, suppliers, and the community through friendly competition. Most importantly, the winner selects a deserving charity to receive a donation in their name.
The pool follows the "eliminator" format, where players pick a winning team from one game each week. The twist is that each team can only be chosen once throughout the season. If a player’s pick loses, they are eliminated.
The pool winner has a donation made in their name to one, or a combination, of these charities:
- Alzheimer's Foundation of America
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- Folds of Honor
- Humane Society of the United States
- Make-A-Wish America
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Susan G. Komen
- United Way
- Wounded Warrior Project
The donation comes from a combination of our generous sponsors and ownership at Austin Hardware®. For the 2024-25 season, we would like to thank our friends at these companies for sponsoring the pool:
We hope you’ll join the fun for the 2025-26 season.