It wasn't really a fair matchup - he hit with top-10 women's player Nadia Petrova of Russia on the practice courts at the Sony Ericsson Open.
"I'm just going to try to get one over the net,'' Pennington said as he took the court.
He was sweating 10 minutes later when the session to promote the tournament ended. He hopped over the net and kissed Petrova on the cheek.
She conceded she had never heard of Pennington, but she was familiar with the Dolphins. She took it easy on him, hitting the ball at half speed and not exploiting his especially weak backhand.
"I'm very impressed,'' she said. "He kept the ball going.''
Pennington said he hadn't hit a tennis ball in 10 years and never played seriously, but his forehand showed promise.
"It's part of playing quarterback - you act like you know what you're doing, but inside you have no idea,'' he said.
With a grunt worthy of Serena Williams, he whacked one shot into the corner for a winner as Petrova laughed.
"The grunt helped me,'' Pennington said. "I laced one. I may incorporate that in my football game - a grunt every time I throw.''
