{"id":290587,"date":"2026-05-31T02:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T02:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290587\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T02:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T02:06:11","slug":"tfr-defeats-tampa-police-in-badge-bowl-fundraiser-for-children-battling-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290587\/","title":{"rendered":"TFR defeats Tampa Police in Badge Bowl fundraiser for children battling cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The annual Badge Bowl returned Saturday, bringing together members of the Tampa Police Department and Tampa Fire Rescue for a friendly football rivalry with a much bigger purpose.<\/p>\n

The game, held for the first time indoors at One Buc Place, benefits the 1Voice Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports children battling cancer and their families.<\/p>\n

The Badge Bowl began in 2002 and pits police officers against firefighters in a flag football game. While competition remains a key part of the event, organizers say the focus is on raising awareness and support for pediatric cancer patients.<\/p>\n

One of the featured team champions was Audrey Brown, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 liver cancer when she was five years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was rough, but apparently I died twice,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut here I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown represented Team Blue during the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really cool experience,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to do it for my first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony McLaurin served as a team captain for the firefighters. He was diagnosed with leukemia 18 months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201c1Voice knows he loves football and put him as the captain of the firefighters, and we are team red, and he\u2019s super excited,\u201d his father, Ronnie, said.<\/p>\n

Tampa Fire Rescue firefighter Travis Williams said the rivalry remains strong, but everyone involved understands the game’s true purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is competitiveness. For sure,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s firefighters and police officers. It\u2019s competitive, but we make sure we don\u2019t lose why we are here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tampa Police Department officer Ben Brown, who coached the police team, said the event puts the focus on the challenges faced by children and families battling cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust having a chance to have some kind of charity for these children and watching the battles they\u2019ve gone through and the struggles,\u201d he said. \u201cIt means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Martin Gramatica and Ernest Graham attended as celebrity captains. But on this field, the kids are the stars.<\/p>\n

Tampa Fire Rescue defeated Tampa Police 34-27.<\/p>\n

More information about supporting families affected by pediatric cancer is available through the 1Voice Foundation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cyclist struck and killed by car after surviving cardiac arrest months earlier<\/p>\n

Craig Prather survived a cardiac arrest in December. Less than six months later, he was struck and killed by a car.<\/p>\n

Cyclist struck and killed by car after surviving cardiac arrest months earlier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The annual Badge Bowl returned Saturday, bringing together members of the Tampa Police Department and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[122831,122832,8739,276,135,5910,108336,3670,6417,137,136,122833,208],"class_list":["post-290587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-1voice-foundation","tag-badge-bowl","tag-bucs","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-bay-28-news","tag-tampa-bay-local-news","tag-tampa-fire-rescue","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-tampa-polcie","tag-wfts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}