Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[skelly]

So what's the deal with Mays? Was he always unfriendly, or did that develop over time? I just remember being younger and hearing how he would play stickball in the street, etc... Not being into the autograph scene, I would have guessed he was a decent guy based on the pictures / stories I heard when I was little.

[Tennis13]

Some nice people:

Alvaro Espinosa's wife. I met her at a Yankees game when I was like 10, and she said if I gave her my Don Mattingly card, she'd get it autographed. She sent one in the mail to me, autographed. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have it authenticated to see if she was who she said she was! ha.

When we were like 6 years old, I had a friend who's dad played for the Dodgers. He always thought Steve Welch was the nicest guy on the team to him.

Andre Dawson -- met him in an elevator at a Cubs-Mets series in NYC when i was like 10. I had an 8.5 x 11 ready for him to sign, but it was in my room. He told me he'd get me later, but I begged him, and he gave me his room number and signed my photo which I hung on my wall my entire childhood.

Lenny Dykstra: I still don't have his autograph, but EFF him and his gold Mercedes. Never has a man been so beloved by the fans but been such a selfish unlikable guy to his public. I don't think I ever saw him sign an autograph in Clearwater during spring training. EVER.

[darwinbulldog]

I don't really have any baseball celebrity stories, though I think Alice Cooper's a pretty solid softball player, and I got to meet him in Albuquerque one time as part of VIP package I won through a radio contest. I've met lots of football players, especially Saints and Dolphins, and they've all been pretty friendly. I ran out of my school one day in about 5th grade to chase Archie Manning down the street and get his autograph, like in the middle of the day, so I could have gotten in trouble for that, but everyone let it slide. It was Archie Manning after all. I have an in-law who played in the NFL for many years, and he's always been nice to us, so count him too if we're allowed to use family. I'm almost certain I was on a flight with O.J. Simpson back in '91. He's always seemed like a sweet guy. Anybody know what he's been up to these past 27 years?

I met Heisman Trophy winners Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams on separate occasions as a UT student in the late 90s. Ricky and I lived in the same dorm, and one night when my friends and I were sneaking a dog into my room, Ricky was on the lobby phone (I guess those probably don't exist anymore), and the dog went up to him and started jumping up and licking his hand. He just said "Hi" and smiled and petted the dog for a moment. We didn't really have a conversation, because he was still on the phone, and he's very shy anyway, but that was a cool moment.

I was an usher at the basketball arena in college (Erwin Center) and had to ask anyone seated in this particular private room in the building to move to a different area before a meeting started. Earl Campbell was sitting in there, all by himself, and watching TV. (It was the basketball game that was being played live like 100 feet away). So I just said, "I'm sorry; I have to ask if you can move over to this other area." And he gave me a look like, "Are you joking? Do you know who I am?" and then just shrugged his shoulders and moved like I asked him to.

I saw plenty of other athletes and musicians when I was working at that arena. My coolest assignment was being stationed as the security guy for Elton John's dressing room before the concert. I just hung out there for a couple of hours before the show, chatted with his bodyguard, listened to his rehearsal with the band, and met him (very) briefly when he came back to the dressing room -- to take a nap. Ricky Williams told me "Hi", but Elton John gave me a full "Hello."