This Painter Has $1 Million Touch

Painter Terry Pledger has a $1 million arm.

The 43-year-old from Roswell, Ga., hit the jackpot by throwing a football through a 30-inch circle from 10 yards away in a contest Friday at the Orange Bowl before Nebraska played Tennessee.

The money will be put to good use.

“I have a wife and four kids, so I have plenty of ways to spend the” $1 million, said Pledger, who makes a living painting parking-lot lines.

After his perfect strike sailed through the hole, Pledger hugged his wife, Jeannie, and his coach, former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar, as the crowd roared.

“I talked to him about wearing a towel so he could wipe his hands off,” Kosar said. “And not to pay attention to all the red and orange and the 70,000 chanting fans. I told him just to focus on the target. It was perfect.”

Pledger’s name was selected at random from more than a million entries for the Gillette Touchdown Challenge after his wife signed him up at a grocery store. He won the right to throw for $1 million by going 7-for-10 through the circle, defeating five other contestants.

He had just one chance to hit the target for the top prize and would have received $50,000 if he had missed. Gillette said it has had 16 similar competitions since 1993, and Pledger is the first winner.

He practiced an hour a day throwing at a tire hung from a ladder.