Winnipeg Sun editor misses out on million but wins cash, gift card and truck

TORONTO, ONTARIO, – Winnipeg’s Richard Pope missed out on seven figures but won a pickup truck, $42,000 in cash and a $25,000 gift certificate in Wendy’s Kick for a Million competition Friday.

The 35-year-old multimedia editor from the Winnipeg Sun made a 20-yard kick to collect the hefty gift card from The Source and a 30-yard boot for a Nissan truck worth $45,598 before missing a 40-yard kick worth $100,000.

The 50-yard attempt, worth $1 million, was short and to the right. He won $42,000 for the attempt — a thousand for every yard.

Pope beat Dave Swanston of Burlington, Ont., on Thursday to advance to the final at halftime of the Toronto-Winnipeg CFL game.

Pope’s name was selected from more than 14 million online entries. He submitted 1,047 of them.

In 2005, mechanical engineer Brian Diesbourg of Belle River, Ont., kicked the 50-yard field goal to win $1 million.