NFL agreement means Fiki guys get a bigger kick; the makers of a tabletop football game score field goal thanks to license.

Like young boys everywhere, Richard Crasnick and his childhood friend Craig Matthews played tabletop football by finger-flicking a piece of paper folded into a triangle through the "goal posts" of their index fingers.

Unlike most boys, however, Crasnick and Matthews kept playing.

Today, burgeoned by a recently acquired NFL license, the two are running Fiki Sports--Fiki stands for Flick it & Kick it--and selling about $2 million worth of leather triangles and miniature plastic goal posts and other tabletop sports toys a year.

"People thought I was crazy," said Crasnick, who admitted the move was more desperation than inspiration. He was trying to make a go of his fledgling public relations and marketing company, but figured it was time to either get serious and join an established firm or become a toy manufacturer.

He founded the company out of his apartment in 2001. After going through samples to find pebbled leather that feels like a real football, he put in an order to manufacturers in China for 100,000 units.

The kick, or the flick, was good: Fiki Sports did about $50,000 in sales its first year mostly through small, independent toy stores.

Texas-based toy distributor Reveal Entertainment got onboard early. The company's president, Jeff Berndt, said the appeal of Fiki Football was in its simplicity.

"If you were ever in elementary school study hall, you understand the product," said Berndt. "I'm a pretty average guy. I figured if it resonates with me, it would resonate with other people."

Crasnick was pleased with how easily he was able to land his displays in small shops, but attending his first trade show was a rude awakening. Crasnick had a 10-foot by 10-foot booth in the shadows of the 2,000-square-foot behemoths put up by Hasbro and Mattel. It became clear that gaining wider distribution was going to take some work.

In its second year, Fiki made licensing agreements with several college football teams and added their logos to the leather triangles. The company did $250,000 in sales, allowing Crasnick to move the operation out of his apartment and into a warehouse. Matthews joined as vice president. In its third year, as Fiki continued to add licensing agreements with college teams, Fiki's business doubled.

The next major hurdle was obtaining deals with the NFL. A friend put in a good word and Crasnick finally received his NFL license in April. More sporting good chains and supermarkets are looking into carrying Fiki products. The company also markets games with baseball, basketball and hockey themes.