Jennifer Amato, Managing Editor
By Jennifer Amato, Staff Writer
When brothers Michael and Frank Silva were 9 and 12 years old, respectively, they took two garbage cans and a citizen’s band radio antenna from their father’s pickup truck in order to create their own football game at their Manalapan home.
“We invented the game to get out of doing dishes on Thanksgiving and as long as my brother and I were hanging out and getting along, our parents left us alone,” Michael Silva recalled.
“Since we loved playing football and all of our friends were away with their families, we needed to come up with a football game that we could play with just us, so we invented the game.
“We never played the game with anyone else growing up because we thought people would think it was stupid. We played it every year on Thanksgiving and we called it the Thanksgiving Classic,” Silva said.
“As the years went on we grew up, had families, and eventually moved away from each other; we stopped playing. When my brother moved to the Atlanta area, my family drove down for Thanksgiving in 2015.
“It came time to do the dishes and my brother said, ‘Hey, you wanna go play the Classic?’ and I replied, ‘Of course’ so we modified it a bit using two 5-gallon buckets from Home Depot and we decided to play.
“One of Frank’s neighbors came by and played for three hours. He was the only stranger to play our game. After he left, I looked at Frank and said, ‘We got something here.’ Frank came up with the genius idea of making it out of a chair and QB54 was born,” Silva said.
QB54 is a complete game of football built into two folding chairs, which can then be used for sitting. The name is a combination of QB for throwing the ball like a quarterback and 54 for the number of points needed to win.
“We wanted a score that was high enough to allow people to come back and with the point values for different plays it adds up pretty quick. We always ask, why not 54?” Silva said.
It took a month or two to develop a prototype, Silva said. His mother-in-law sewed the first chairs while he put PVC pipe on the back for the goal posts.
QB54 hit the market in September 2016 and has been sold through www.playQB54.com, Amazon and sporting goods stores since November.
More so than just for entertainment, the Silvas want to use the game to bring awareness to veterans’ issues. The game gained popularity after it was introduced to Odessa Turner, a former Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants, through fans who had been playing the game.
“Odessa works with a nonprofit organization called Play For Your Freedom, which helps veterans make the transition from soldier to citizen through peer-to-peer groups, wellness programs and physical activity such as touch football games,” Silva said.
“Odessa had the vision that our game would be perfect for their organization because a lot of veterans came out to play the touch football game, however, many were still on the sideline due to a disability, whether it was an amputated leg or another injury that prevented them from walking or running.
“When we introduced QB54 to veterans, everyone was able to participate – those who were able bodied and those who were not – and the smiles that were on their faces was absolutely priceless. We never thought in a million years that our game was going to affect so many people and in so many ways. It is truly a rewarding experience.
“All of our customers are part of the QB54 Nation. We are creating a culture around the game and helping veterans. We are trying to help bring awareness to the struggles they have and trying to support them whenever we can.
“As the QB54 Nation grows, we hope that awareness grows along with it. We truly have something special here and we want everyone to know about it. We are just two brothers from New Jersey chasing our American Dream and we are getting closer to that every day,” he said.
Silva said it was a thrill for the brothers to attend the first Fantasy Football Convention in Dallas and to interact with more than 20 NFL players.
“There was an indoor football field and we were only supposed to have access to it for 15 minutes … but the NFL players and attendants loved our game so much that we took over the field for the entire two days of the convention.
“They loved the game; some bought one for themselves and we even gave one to (Dallas Cowboys players) for their locker room,” Silva said.
“To see NFL players playing our game is absolutely incredible. The look of joy on their faces and their competitive nature goes to the roots of our game. It gives us a sense of satisfaction and validation that we know our game is good,” he said.
Silva said QB54 even keeps children’s sports teams busy between games at tournaments.
“I am a coach of my son’s travel baseball team and my team loves playing QB54 in between games to keep them occupied and sharp,” he said.
