[Fballguy]

Best: Kurt Warner and the 1999 St. Louis Rams. It was the last week of the season in Philadelphia. They had home field throughout the playoffs wrapped up. The game meant nothing for them except to avoid injuries. I stayed at the team hotel and staked out the bar in the restaurant...Shula's Steakhouse. It was the Saturday before the game and the bar went from empty one minute to what seemed like a private St. Louis Rams party the next. The whole team filed in eventually...Warner, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Orlando Pace, Az Hakim, London Fletcher, Kevin Carter, Rickey Proehl, etc. All the coaches Vermeil, Mike Martz, Jim Hanifan, Frank Gansz, Wilbert Montgomery. Ron Jaworkski was there too. I spent hours drinking beer and talking to everyone. The mood was light. They were in the midst of a dream season. Warner was like a rookie. Gracious to everyone. Posed for pictures. Signed everything. It was a really, really, good time. I have dozens of signed polaroid pictures from that night.

Though there was one experience I cherish even more than that. 2008 NFL season. Rams staying around Hoboken to play the Jets...can't remember the name of the hotel, but it was by far the least special hotel I'd ever seen them stay at. They were in the midst of a "least special" season and that weekend would be their "least special" performance of that "least special" season, trailing the Jets 40-0 at halftime in a game that was never a contest. Anyway, rewind 18 hours earlier. Saturday afternoon around 5:00 or so...who walks into the bar but none other than Jim Hanifan, who was retired from coaching at this point but working as the color commentator on Rams broadcasts. He sat on the bar stool next to me and we talked football and watched college football to nearly midnight. He told story after story after story. I love that guy. It was a night I'll never forget.

Post script...The access to the team changed dramatically after the 1999 season. Once they won the Super Bowl, security was much tighter. The team more secluded. I had a connection so I always knew what hotel they'd be at and because I was a paying customer, the hotel let me do what I wanted. I still got to meet and talk to many players, coaches and TV guys but it wasn't the same. From 1999 to 2001, Warner (and many other Rams) went from regular guys with easy access to Armani wearing celebrities you had to hope to get a glimpse off. By the Super Bowl season of 2001, Warner was no longer signing in person. He was handing out prayer cards that he had signed in advance and you could only get one if you happened to be at the hotel when the team arrived. Otherwise you never saw him again.

Worst experience...I don't have many but one stands out. 2001 Season...Rams are in Newark to play the Giants. I'm in my usual spot in the hotel bar waiting with my trooper of a wife. No one in the place at about 2:00 PM on Saturday. Sitting a few seats away from is none other than Lawrence McCutcheon, the one time Rams all time leading rusher. By himself. Drinking a beer. Watching college football. Against my better judgement, I thought it would be ok to go over and chat. I introduced myself. Told him I was a Rams fan since the mid-seventies. It was nice to meet him. He looked at me like I just farted. Never said a word. Then turned around, grabbed his beer and continued to watch college football. I felt like a tool. i was always very cautious and smart around the team. Never wanted to seem like a fanatic. If someone seemed approachable...you know the queues...I'd talk to them. If someone's body language indicated it was a bad idea, I wouldn't. Totally misread this one and never made that mistake again.

But my experience was mild compare to some I've witnessed. I used to work security at the Greater Hartford Open. The celebrity pro-am day was always a lot fun...especially if you got to work the after party that night. One year, at the party they stationed me at the end of the tent which happened to be right next to the porta potties. Ken Howard...aka The White Shadow...went to take a leak and as he approached he said "hi" then asked if I was guarding the "shitters". LOL I thought it was funny. Another time, I got my picture taken standing next to Bob Hope...unintentionally...was just doing my job as he walked by...and unbeknownst to me until the picture appeared on the cover of the Hartford Courant the next day. But as for bad experiences...One year I was working by the putting green and a father made the mistake of lifting his small son...couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 over the fence so the boy could go up to Lawrence Taylor and ask for an autograph. When the boy approached, Taylor told him to get the "F" away from him. The father had to be held back from climbing over the fence. Taylor then started to berate the father and the two stood nose to nose screaming at each other as we tried to diffuse the situation. That was a bad scene...

Another that comes to mind. As a Rams fan, it pains me to say it, but Marshall Faulk was an absolute jerk to fans. Never to me. I knew better than to even try to talk to him. But my wife and I would watch as others went down in flames. One guy in particular comes to mind. A middle aged guy, wearing a Rams jersey...Approached Faulk as he was chatting with two smoking hot girls in the bar of the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City. The guy professed his love of the Rams and told Faulk how great a football player he was. Faulk just stood there and said one word...emotionless...expressionless...he said "ok"...in a tone that easily could've translated to "get lost" or worse. A long, awkward pause ensued. Faulk said nothing. The girls acted like it was the most humorous thing they'd ever seen, while unsuccessfully acting like they didn't want to show it. The guy, undoubtedly feeling very embarrassed just skulked away. Faulk and the girls then proceeded to make fun of him. I was sitting about five feet away and was disgusted. I stopped being a Faulk fan at that point.