{"id":162265,"date":"2025-09-22T21:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/162265\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T21:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:27:07","slug":"6-year-olds-viral-nfl-picks-help-him-with-speech-delay-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/162265\/","title":{"rendered":"6-Year-Old\u2019s Viral NFL Picks Help Him with Speech Delay (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> NEED TO KNOW<br \/>\nWeston Schroeder was in speech therapy for a speech delay when his parents, Stephanie and Joe, decided to record him speaking to help him practiceAround the same time, the family moved just steps from Highmark Stadium, home of the NFL&#8217;s Buffalo BillsWith two football-loving parents, Weston quickly caught the football bug, and soon his therapy and his new passion began to overlap<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_2-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Years ago, Weston Schroeder was in speech therapy for a speech delay when his parents, Stephanie and Joe, came up with a clever idea: record him speaking to help him practice.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Around the same time, the family moved just steps from Highmark Stadium, home of the NFL&#8217;s Buffalo Bills in Erie County, N.Y. With two football-loving parents, Weston quickly caught the football bug, and soon his therapy and his new passion began to overlap.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_6-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> What started as simple recordings quickly became more elaborate. Weston would arrange mini helmets for each NFL team by game order \u2014 Thursday Night Football through Monday Night Football \u2014 and set up a table in front of a cutout of the Bills&#8217; quarterback, <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/josh-allen-admonishes-buffalo-bills-fans-for-leaving-game-before-their-massive-comeback-win-have-some-faith-11805416\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Allen<\/a>. After a quick intro, the spontaneity of his picks would take over.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_8-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;I just think about it and then I pick them,&#8221; the now 6-year-old tells PEOPLE exclusively.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_10-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;We absolutely DO NOT help him with his picks,&#8221; the mom adds. &#8220;In fact, last year, when we did try to &#8216;influence&#8217; him to pick the Ravens over the Raiders during Week 2, we caused him to be wrong. From that point on, we do not impact his picks whatsoever.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Eventually, Stephanie began editing the videos and sharing them with friends and family on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ssch987\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok<\/a>. As interest grew, she decided to post them publicly, tagging the <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/football\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/meet-the-real-life-loves-of-the-buffalo-bills-players-11785100\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"3\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Buffalo Bills<\/a> so more people could enjoy Weston\u2019s predictions.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_18-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Soon, the videos went viral.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_20-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;It has been incredible!&#8221; Stephanie tells PEOPLE exclusively. &#8220;Fans are requesting we post his picks early so they can place their bets for the week. Some are saying Weston is the reason their team won last week. Even the verified NFL TikTok account liked one of his videos.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_22-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;I do think it helped that he went 13-3 on the viral video, so it was intriguing that a 6-year-old could make such great picks,&#8221; the mom adds.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_24-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> When asked how it feels to have so many people watching his videos, Weston chimes in, \u201cYeah, it\u2019s awesome!\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_28-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Since starting the video series, Weston\u2019s parents say he has taken it further, offering opinions on the teams and \u201creally digging into them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_30-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Last year, during his Week 15 video, his comment, &#8220;Both teams are pretty bad \u2014 so I\u2019ll take the Jets,\u201d stood out and had the family laughing.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_32-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;We look forward to doing this every week!&#8221; Stephanie says. &#8220;Weston\u2019s confidence in speech has improved, which was the main purpose of all of this.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p> Weston and Joe Schroeder in Bills gear.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie and Joe Schroeder<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_35-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Although Weston makes predictions for all the teams in his videos, one team holds a special place in his heart: the Bills.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_37-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> When asked about his favorite players on the team, the 6-year-old says it\u2019s a tough question, but he chooses Allen, 29, Khalil Shakir, 25 and <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/bills-keon-coleman-learned-from-josh-allen-exclusive-8747987\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keon Coleman<\/a>, 22. One day, he dreams of becoming a wide receiver so he can catch a touchdown \u2014 his favorite part of watching football.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_39-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\n<\/p>\n<p> Stephanie and Weston Schroeder.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie and Joe Schroeder<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_42-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;Weston is hoping more than anything to get the attention of the Buffalo Bills or any of their players next!&#8221; Stephanie says.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_44-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> &#8220;We hope that when he looks back at this, he remembers a fun activity he did every week with his parents,&#8221; she adds.\n<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Weston Schroeder was in speech therapy for a speech delay when his parents, Stephanie and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-162265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}