She got his autograph, she caught a football he threw and - best of all - she got to hug him three times.

So what if Nicole Swift, 9, wasn't really sure who Denver Bronco Eddie Royal was when her mom entered her name in the "Take an NFL Player to School with You" contest in October.

By the end of Tuesday morning, Nicole not only knew who Royal is - yes, the newbie wide receiver who caught the 59-yard pass in Sunday's game against the New York Jets - she was pretty sure she was never going to let him go.

"Come to my class with me," Nicole said, pulling on Royal's hand after they'd finished an hour of gym with her classmates.

Then, "What are you going to do now?" she asked when told that his visit to her elementary school in Golden was over.

He smiled. It was 11 a.m. "Bye, I had fun," he said, giving her a final hug and climbing into a limo.

Royal, who is 22 and a contender for NFL Rookie of the Year, seemed almost as nervous as Nicole when he arrived at her home Tuesday morning.

"I thought this day would never get here," Nicole confessed before he arrived. Her twin 7-year- old sisters peeked out the front curtains.

Royal has had a whirlwind year, coming to Colorado in June after graduating from Virginia Tech University. Adjusting to Colorado's altitude was tough, he said, and NFL players are "a lot bigger, a lot faster" than those in college.

But becoming a major-league celebrity is new, too, for the son of a school bus driver, and Royal admitted "I'm a little bit nervous" as he chatted with Nicole and her family, petted their dogs, signed footballs and a jersey, and posed in front of the Christmas tree for the family greeting card.

Nicole and her sisters, Colleen and Caitlin, rode in a limo with Royal for the brief trip from home to Fairmount Elementary, where they were greeted by a phalanx of photographers and TV cameramen.

A sign in the front lobby read "Welcome to Fairmount. Assembly is for students and staff only. Thank you."

Principal Brady Stroup said he'd had a few folks who wanted to come meet Royal.

"We had some people who wanted to volunteer," he said, putting quote marks around the word volunteer. "So I did a little bit of blocking."

"I can't blame them," he said.

Inside, Nicole gave the short speech she'd memorized on Sunday to introduce Royal.

He took the mic as the students roared a welcome and peppered him with questions such as "Was it fun playing the Jets?"

Royal quickly got down to business, talking up the NFL's Play 60 initiative, encouraging kids to be active an hour a day.

"It's about you guys getting out and playing for 60 minutes a day," he said.

Then, he spent 60 minutes in gym with Nicole's fourth-grade class. They stretched rubber bands, ran around cones and raced across the gym to pick up footballs and carry them back. Royal tucked a ball expertly in one hand and held onto his baggy jeans with the other as he ran.

The one-time quarterback also tossed balls to eager receivers.

"This is awesome," said Mike Larrenaga, 9, who, like most of the kids, was wearing Broncos attire. "He said 'sup (what's up) to me in the hallway."

Royal's visit comes with $2,000 - $1,000 from the NFL, $1,000 from JCPenney - for Fairmount to spend on athletic equipment or training. Stroup said the school needs balls for recess and plans to start a running club.

Fairmount students receive 45 minutes of physical education on three consecutive days, then they switch to three days of art and three days of music.

"It's certainly not enough," Stroup said. "That's why this is important. They need to exercise after school, too."

Fairmount gym teacher Jody Rector said Royal's visit has sparked an interest in students.

"A lot of kids are asking, what do you do if you're not a football player?" she said, eyeing Royal as he darted between cones to overtake a laughing Nicole. "He's such a nice guy and a great role model. They're so excited."

Royal, whose nickname is "Mr. Clean" for his squeaky clean reputation, high-fived students and posed for photos in between the games.

He was younger than 9 when he decided he wanted to play football, following in his brothers' footsteps, Royal said.

He said he wished the NFL's Take a Player to School contest had existed when he was younger because winning it would have been a dream come true.

"I'm happy that I can come out here and do this for these kids," he said.

Childhood obesity

Two national surveys, one conducted from 1976 to 1980 and the other from 2003 to 2006, show the increasing prevalence of the problem.

* Ages 2 to 5: percentage of children classified as obese increased from 5 percent to 12.4 percent.

* Ages 6 to 11: percentage of children classified as obese increased from 6.5 percent to 17 percent.

* Ages 12 to 19: percentage of children classified as obese increased from 5 to 17.6 percent.

IN COLORADO

* 14 percent of children ages 2 to 14 are overweight and 10 percent of high school students are overweight.

* The rates are two to three times higher for minority or low-income children.

LINKS TO ADULT OBESITY

* 80 percent of children who were overweight at ages 10 to 15 years were obese adults at age 25, according to one study.

* 25 percent of obese adults were overweight as children, according to another study, which also found that in children who are overweight before age 8, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe.

NFL Play 60 campaign

* To learn more about the NFL's initiative encouraging kids to play 60 minutes a day, log on to nflrush.com/health.

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