Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[JollyElm]

Two that come to mind as being extremely friendly were both sort of local heroes on Long Island, so they won't matter much to most people outside of NYC, but they are both quite memorable to me.

Gerry Cooney, 'The Huntington Heavyweight,' ambled into the gym I use to train at, making a huge splash as everyone ate it up. A couple of us 'sparred' a bit with him and, man, did we look out for that left. A monster of a human being. What a great attitude he had, and this was really at the pinnacle of his (pretty short-lived) fame, so he was very much in demand as millions of New Yorkers were rooting for him like crazy. He left a great impression on everyone.

Over the years I ran into Jets RB legend Freeman McNeil a whole bunch of different times at a local 7-11 (which, strangely enough, was way off the beaten path, but it was near his home). He would be standing there sipping his coffee with a slight smile on his face, just sort of minding his own business, like he was in no hurry to go anywhere. So once I said, "What the heck?" and went up to him and introduced myself and said what an honor it was to meet him. He whipped out a huge smile and we got to talking football for a long while. An absolutely incredibly friendly and nice guy, but it was sad in a way, because it was late in the afternoon and he told me that due to all of the injuries he suffered playing football his entire life, every day it took until the afternoon for him to feel like he had any sort of 'normal' mobility at all. He didn't say it in any way like it was a complaint, just a fact of life for him. After that day, each time I'd see him he would give me a smile and a knowing nod and sometimes we'd chat for a bit. I frickin' love that guy!!!!!!