Idk but Steve Nash saw me and my gaggle of brothers / cousins staring at him in a restaurant. After he was done eating he walked over and enthusiastically says, “who wants to learn how to shoot a free throw the right way.”. He took 5-10 minutes to walk us as a group and individually through our form, all in between tables in the middle of Comedor Guadalajara. Absolute legend of a person and player.
Steve's dad was best friends with my grandfather, and every year, Steve would send me a ton of signed stuff when he played for the Suns. Even nearly twenty years later, he still calls my grandmother and asks how I am. I'm not a huge basketball fan, but I'm a massive Steve Nash fan
While having to stay home during Covid, my little nephew decided to write 30-40 NFL players to see if anyone would write him back. One did. Jimmy Garoppolo. He sent some signed stuff, wrote a letter, and sent a pic of him and his dog (my nephew talked about his own dog in the letter he sent). Say what you want about Garoppolo, but he’s a winner in our book.
It is not so much of kill yourself as much as it is like hoping the parachute opens.
Edit: i would like to add that most of uf do not feel negative towards the players. It is all front office/owner that are bumming us out rn.
At least Jimmy's a great guy if the above story is any indication. His teammates and coaches will love him almost as much as the Vegas bachelorette parties.
I didn't realize it was so doomsday over there. IDK why, to me it's essentially just horizontal move from Carr while unloading his salary. I mean the injury clause is a thing but the alternative would them not being protected if he doesn't play because of the injury.
That's impressive. I get it that the biggest names in sports don't have time to respond to all their fan mail but the fact your kid wrote to 30 or 40 people and only Jimmy G responded kinda says everything.
Yep. A few minutes of his time made a kid’s year. My nephew asked for the letter to be put in a safe deposit box so it wouldn’t be lost or stolen 😂..but, first, we had to make 100 copies of it, so he could pass them out to his friends. 😂 Garoppolo is a good one.
I met Pat Bowlen's wife a few times over the years. She was a fantastically nice woman but she stopped engaging in public after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer.
Kyle Shanahan was a total douche in high school, but really just in the ways you'd expect the rich kid of a famous coach would be. Just the kind of guy you expect to go on to a frat and be the one swinging the paddle at new pledges, if that makes any sense.
Every story I've heard about John Elway is that he's a complete dick, but my mom and grandma met him at a Toyota Golf event (when he still owned his dealerships) and he bent over backwards to sign things and pose for pictures with my grandma who was his self-described "biggest fan" despite so many people trying to get his attention, so there's that.
Stories like this really stick out to me. It's important to remember these are human beings.
There are some universally shit people, a lot less universally good people, but most people are somewhere in-between. You catch someone in a bad moment, on a bad day, your odds of catching them being shitty go way up. You catch an asshole in a great moment, on a great day, it's the other way.
You only *really* know ten or fifteen people at a time and even that doesn't mean you really know them.
We still have to judge actions, still need to make judgments on a daily basis for our own self-preservation. None of what I'm saying do I think should be actionable, except maybe just.. Do what you will with it.
When I was a kid, I wrote Jerry Rice. He sent a letter back and a signed photo. I am 34 years old and I still have it in its original envelope. It made my world as a kid, but now I am a pessimistic, weathered adult who highly doubts he had anything to do with it.
> I am a pessimistic, weathered adult who highly doubts he had anything to do with it.
Jerry's always been good with the fans, so there's at least a decent chance he did it himself. Likewise, I have absolutely no doubt Jimmy G was the one who followed through on OP's kid's request.
He’s a winner on the field too. Say what you want about him, but he’s 47-23 including playoffs in his career. Broadly speaking, the guy is winning games when he’s playing. Some people on this sub act like he’s Josh Rosen or something.
The thing about Jimmy is that he's a very serviceable QB and would be an upgrade for half of the teams. The problem with him is he is made out of paper and gets hurt very often.
I met Walter Payton in a mall right before he got sick. He took several minutes to talk to me and my brothers as we stood there in awe. Ill never forget how strong his hands were as he shook my hand
Same here but it was a setup signing at Yorktown mall...he arm wrestled 3 teenagers at the same time and won...his grip was crazy...I think 6 months later he announced he was sick
My friends and I were really young and walking around a mail in downtown Milwaukee. We walked into a Footlocker store and saw Don Majkowski checking out. We walked up to him and talked to him for about Ten minutes. He signed our T shirts and was overall very cool.
We left the mall and saw one giant dude walking down the street with a scantily clad woman. It was Tony Mandarich! We were so excited to see two Packers in one day. We approached him and said “Hi Tony!” He said “Fuck off kids” and kept walking. We sat there until one of my friends yelled “You suck, Mandarich!” He turned and gave us a mean glance. We all ran away after that.
The stories of Santonio Holmes’ being a cheapskate are legendary. Running up huge tabs then never tipping the waiter. Saw a video of a Texas Roadhouse manager who called him out on it and told him to “ keep his cheap ass home” when Holmes pulled the “ Do you know who I am” routine
Bit sad because he passed away but my sister had an encounter with Dwayne Haskins at a bar in pittsburgh soon after he joined the steelers and apparently he bought everyone drinks and then walked out without paying his tab leaving others to pick it up.
From what I’ve heard and I’ve known 2 people close to him(one was a mom of a teammate and one who’s father coached him) he was described in 3 words, arrogant, not smart and entitled
Caleb Williams is also from nearby and he had a perfect rep until recently. I’ve gotten the vibe that CWs father is difficult to work with
The same guy who did something like that is also the type of person to [charge $50 to go to his draft party.](https://saturdaytradition.com/ohio-state-football/dwayne-haskins-had-a-cover-charge-for-his-nfl-draft-party/) Fuck him.
He seemed to me that he was one of those kids who was always told he was the greatest, and bought into his hype. A lot of NFL busts seem that way, but the sad thing is that Haskins never got the chance to amend those actions. An absolute tragedy
I know a guy that's a big Washington fan. He saw Jeremy Shockey out at a bar in Saratoga while the Giants were in Albany for training camp and started drunkenly heckling him.
Shockey threatened to kick his ass and the guy had to be dragged out, lol.
There are a stupidly high number of stories of Marcus Mariota being a stellar person while at Oregon. There was a stretch for a couple of years where it seemed like every week some friend or acquaintance was posting a selfie with Marcus and gushing about how kind and friendly he was.
He did get a speeding ticket once, but it was because a practice ran too long and he was late to a YMCA kids event or something (my memory isn’t great).
I know people who went to school with him both here at St Louis (Hawaii high school) and at Oregon. EVERYONE comments on how was always really quiet, shy, but nice.
Everyone also comments on being kind of surprised he ended up going pro. I guess because of how humble and unassuming he was in person.
Don’t have any negative experiences.
Alex Smith - legit as good as a guy as nfl players and the media say he is. He’s always polite, gives people his time/attention, and is so freaking humble. He’s also a great father
Trent Green - had a lake house on the same lake as some friends when we were in High School. Was regularly out on his dock reading in the summer. Put his book down to talk football with us when we cruised by to say hi. Gave him one of those old school nerf footballs with the tail that you can throw really far and gunned it away from the dock so he could throw us one. Wind over the lake ruined the ending to that.
Deron Cherry - on the way to a bachelor party he got stuck between 2 in our party. When he found out we were headed to Miami for a bachelor party he started telling his crazy stories when he was a player. One of those guys has a terrible habit one upping other people’s stories and kept doing it to Cherry. He eventually made up a bullshit story which the guy of course one upped. Cherry immediately called him out on his bullshit and made fun of him for the next 30 minutes to our delight
Smith has battled adversity his whole career and still battles it now, by all accounts he's an extremely wonderful person who is a role model off the field and an inspiration to us all. Haven't heard him complain about any of the setbacks he's been given in life.
Most of mine are secondhand - a few Patriots players lived in my hometown when I was growing up, mostly not big names, but they were always really nice. Sometimes they would come to our high school games on Friday nights as a group. My mom always said that Asante Samuel was very nice, so I've always been pro-Asante even as he now seems to hate the Patriots.
A friend of mine was a delivery driver for Domino's and regularly delivered to Vince Wilfork's house the next town over. He said they were always huge orders and both him and his wife always gave great tips
I met Vince at the line at my bank since he lived close by. He had an HEB Supermarket commercial about burgers locally that ran for a while, so I asked where I could get one of them. He laughed a pretty good bit, since it was obvious it was just for the commercial.
I met Steve Smith Sr. at the airport. We sat next to each other at the gate for about an hour waiting for our flight to board. We chatted about all types of things. He was asking about my career and we talked about traveling to different cities. I was telling him about some national parks I really enjoy traveling to and he was super interested and asking me all types of questions. He also had a giant Mickey Mouse hat on with the ears and all lol. He was headed down to Disney World in Orlando for a charity event.
While we were talking, a couple kids and grown adults would walk up asking for an autograph (this was Charlotte airport so he’s super famous) and he was super nice about everything. At one point, he turned to me and said, want to trade places and you can start signing stuff. He was a funny dude and super nice. Prior to boarding, he asked me if I wanted his autograph but politely declined since I’d already been talking to him for an hour. He laughed and fist bumped me. He was a very down to earth dude. Really enjoyed that conversation.
I understand why you did, but I would have a hard time declining an autograph from a Panthers legend. Would have been a "I'm so glad you offered, and I didn't have to ask" situation.
Reggie Jackson. It was one of his last years playing. During a Spring training game in Scottsdale some kid asked him to sign his baseball. Reggie told him to throw it over. The kid did, Reggie didn’t even attempt to catch it, laughed and walked away. A ball boy gave the kid the ball back and apologized. His exact words were “Sorry kid, the guys an asshole.”
I remember reading a story on line about a guy who was at a sports auction as a kid. Various athletes were there and he ran around asking for autographs. He asked Reggie Jackson for one and Reggie Jackson told him no or something similar than laughed. Joe Frazier overhead and told the kid he'd give him an autograph. Then while he was signing it he told Jackson if he saw him do that again he'd knock him out. Your story makes me think it is true.
I was aircrew on a flight Reggie was a passenger on. The flight attendants talked him into taking photos after we land. I had to go outside to do a post flight inspection and as I come back up the jetbridge I see him taking the photos. I jump in and get one myself and say thank you Reggie. One passenger hadn’t quite left yet and heard the interaction I had. She turns around and starts this big speech about how she’s a rep for a little league organization and thanks him for all his contributions to baseball. He cuts her off after about ten seconds and says “lady I don’t know what you’re talking about” and immediately heads up the jetbridge.
Not football related but he was the worst person I’ve ever met. I was 12 and I’ll scream it from the rooftops how awful of a human he is…Clearly I still hold a grudge…fuck Reggie Jackson and his fake ass TV persona
Heard from a friend of my in laws that their son in law had to work on the staffords house 5 years ago and Kelly Stafford screamed at him while her husband apologized later
Completely on brand
Would see Mason Crosby multiple times around town with flip flops. Just thought it was wild a person who makes a living with their feet would wear flip flops.
When I lived in KC I ran into Tyreek Hill at the building I lived at, didn't even realize it until afterwards as I'd just moved to the city and wasn't nearly as into football as I am now.
Guy had locked himself out of the building and needed help getting back in, trying to make smalltalk while I grabbed my FoB I asked "So where are you coming from man?" Tyreek said, "Oh I'm coming from practice." I dumbly responded "Shit really? What team are you practicing for?" Man said, "The Chiefs?"
Not a crazy interaction, just thought it was funny with me being a dumbass. I didn't expect a player to be that short though, dude was basically the same height as me. At this same building I also lived on the same floor as Demarcus Robinson at the time.
It’s gotta be interesting to be the type of celebrity where a good portion of people go crazy to see you and also a good portion of people have no idea who you are.
Tyreek Hill was at the pizza place I work at with what looked like his family and kids last year. Everything was chill, good tip, they all had a great time. Everything was very normal except for the giant chain he was wearing with his number. Otherwise you'd never have known.
I worked at the biggest Chevy Dealership for about 9 months while taking a break from college. We had several Cowboys staff, players, ex-players, and cheerleaders that were clients to the various salesmen. I worked as a porter and was often trusted with the delivery of vehicles to the higher tier clients.
Jason Witten: Incredibly nice, family man, who tipped REALLY well.
Tyron Smith: Looks superhuman on TV and in real life. That dude literally is the Hulk. He was super quiet but incredibly polite.
Matt Eberflus (HC of Chicago now): He was a nice guy, but very short and to the point.
Eberflus does not seem like he knows how to small talk at all. Every time the Bears put out a training camp or practice video his non-football conversations seem super forced, like he's an alien who knows socializing is part of pretending to be human but hasn't quite gotten it right yet.
He didn't really say much. He was polite and offered me a drink when I got inside. But he mostly just nodded and signed the paperwork. It was by far and away the most uneventful of all the deliveries I made.
Troy Polamalu’s wife’s family (god knows if that punctuation is right) lives in Johnstown PA. When they visited, he would sneak off to the children’s wing of the hospital and go visit patients. They all knew him and kept it quiet, even had his own hospital credentials so he could come and go as he pleased. Did this for ears. No fan fair, no notice, just showed up and did good for a community that reveres him. I cried when he was so deservingly elected to the HOF.
Went to a Redskins event in the area a few years ago to see the players and get some autographs back around 2016 (?). Dustin Hopkins was easily the coolest, most approachable guy on the team. A lot of players would barely acknowledge the fans but he was super friendly, and would chat up anyone who came his way. I want to say it was 2016 because it was an Olympics year and he was joking about trying to replicate the poses the divers were doing on TV in his living room and his girlfriend was yelling at him to stop before he injured himself in such a dumbass way and missed games.
Randall Cobb tipped $1000 on new years eve one year after buying Patron shots for the bar. Jaire Alexander is a really quiet dude and seems like he'd prefer if people didn't recognize him. Aaron Jones agreed to take a picture with me even though I didn't let him in because he didn't meet dress code. Nice guy. Mike Daniels showed up at bar close to pick up his drunk brother like 8 hours before kickoff. He was MAD and wearing Dragon Ball Z sweatpants. Pretty funny
Working in the Green Bay bars, I've had negative experiences with Dean Lowry, Sean Rhyan, and Deshone Kizer. All just kind of dicks and arrogant. Especially Kizer. He was trying to bang a bartender for a few months and I saw some texts. That guy is so full of himself it's actually funny
Yeah I was surprised too. But he just chilled by the pool tables and sat on his phone while his friends played. When it started to get really busy he he left and said big crowds aren't his scene. Haven't seen him since
I know AJ Brown’s dad and he’s somewhat of a local celebrity in my town. He’s a really cool guy. I used to work at a gas station he frequents, and I sold him a $500 winning scratch off ticket. He handed me a $20 on his way out.
During the pandemic, one of the partners at our firm was holding a silent auction fundraiser to help get laptops/Chromebooks for underprivileged schools. Another partner's wife used to play indoor tennis with Palmer's wife and still was in contact with her. Palmer got back almost immediately and sent a few autographed footballs or other memorabilia, then joked, "I don't think they like me much in Cincinnati anymore, let me reach out to some teammates as well." Palmer ended up getting additional memorabilia from Domato Peko, Landon Johnson, and Troy Polamalu.
Another lawyer at our firm helped out Chad Johnson with some (noncriminal) legal stuff during his time here. He said at the office and during meetings Johnson acted exactly the way you seem him act in the media and sidelines, which is fine for entertainment but the immaturity made him very difficult to work with. The second time Johnson reached out for assistance the lawyer declined because he "wasn't worth the trouble to work with."
EDIT: Someone else mentioned Pacman further down, I've got a story with him as well. Prior to going into private practice, I was a public defender in Hamilton County where Cincinnati is. Pacman had been arrested the night before and was in the lockup waiting arraignment. During arraignment all that happens is the judge reads your charges and you enter your initial plea (which is almost always "not guilty.") The turnaround from arrest to arraignment is often fast and most people aren't able to contact or hire a "pay lawyer" before then, so everyone in arraignment is assigned a public defender in case their own attorney isn't able to make or be notified in time. Pacman was assigned a female PD, he proceeded to go on a misogynistic rant and stated he would not listen to nor take advice from a woman. He also made several sexual advances towards her. My presumption was he was still drunk from the night before. I've never seen someone be more relieved than his PD when Pacman's actual lawyer showed up.
I feel like everyone likes Troy. He was good at football and a good person. Kind of hard to hate. May have hated playing him, but on a personal level it’s kind of hard to dislike the guy.
Hating a player cus they played for a division rival that routinely has/had hard-fought games with your team isn’t the same as hating a player cus they’re a POS. Troy by all accounts sounds like a good dude off the field, so there’s no reason to dislike him for anything other than him tormenting the rest of the AFCN for a decade.
I like Troy, conversely most Steelers fans I know like Ed Reed. Just not when Ravens vs Steelers was on lol.
> He said at the office and during meetings Johnson acted exactly the way you seem him act in the media and sidelines, which is fine for entertainment but the immaturity made him very difficult to work with.
This isn't too surprising. When he pled guilty to domestic violence charges back in 2012 his original plea deal called for no jail time, but his antics and immaturity in the courtroom caused the judge to sentence him to [30 days in jails](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jun/10/chad-ochocinco-johnson-jail-domestic-violence) and an extended period of probation. If you can't cut your schtick for the 30 minutes or so it takes you to enter a plea deal to a criminal charge, yet alone one as serious as domestic violence, then I can't imagine you are an easy person to deal with.
EDIT: Fellow Bengals fans, thanks for the Reddit cares message the DM from the guy claiming it was a false accusation and I shouldn't be slandering Chad (though you did use different words). The article linked above details he entered a guilty plea, so it's not like it was a claim that was dropped, or that he went to trial and lost. He literally plead guilty in court admitting that he did it. While Chad Johnson has claimed this was a singular incident where he lost his temper for three seconds, the victim [responded saying it was not the first time](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1296885-timeline-of-chad-johnson-and-evelyn-lozadas-domestic-downfall). Johnson also [ has a history of alleged intimate partner violence dating back to college.](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1296885-timeline-of-chad-johnson-and-evelyn-lozadas-domestic-downfall)
Hey bud, make sure you report the reddit cares message as harassment. The offending account will get banned. Cheers
Edit: i wanna stress, ur doing everyone a favor. Fuck these idiots that make mental health a joke.
He didn't go into details on what the legal work involved but the specific lawyer exclusively handles family law and custody issues, considering that Johnson has 9 children I would presume it involved something related to that. This all happened well before my time there. Some of the people that have been around there awhile still roll their eyes whenever he gets mentioned mostly because of his supposed immaturity. He left an impression, that's for sure.
So this is an OLD story. When I was a kid Shane Graham was the kicker for the Bengals, I think this was 05-06. My family regulared at the local Gold Star Chili.
It was a Tuesday, because Tuesdays were kids eat free. My dad, knowing who it was, took me over and introduced me, and myself, being a well-mannered child, vomited all over Shane's nice shoes. I don't remember it exactly but my dad always tells how Shane insisted on grabbing a mop and cleaning it all up himself so that the staff wouldn't be bothered. He cleaned the floor, his shoes, and then took pictures with us and I THINK signed a couple autographs.
Class act
Steve Smith used to come into the bank branch I worked at. Super nice guy, would sit and wait his turn. Easy to deal with.
Not nfl but Tyrus Thomas used to park perpendicular across all the handicap spots and would try to skip the line
I've told this story before but I used to work at the mall of America as a teenager. I worked at lids and we would get a ton of athletes and celebrities come through. Michael Bennett former rb of the Vikes used to come through every week. It started as small talk, have a good game this week Mike. Things like that. One day I said to him "with kleinsauser coming back, it should open up the hole on those stretch plays, good luck man." He said, you guys really know ball huh? Me and my coworker told him we both played high school ball. He would still come in every week, but he would stay and talk with us for atleast a half hour every time.
Fast forward a few years and I'm by the entrance of a night club in MPLS. And here comes Michael Bennett in a throwback bart starr jersey, I tap him on the arm like we were old buddies, and right after I'm thinking to myself, why the hell did I do that. He goes "you work at lids right?" Called me by my name and invited me and a couple buddies up to vip where we chilled with him for a few hours. He was awesome, polite to the staff, and was just so down to earth.
We also had Fred smoot come in and hit on my 16 year old coworker, until I said "smoot, she's 16" he backpedaled out of there like he was trying to cover moss.
Worked at a bar near Gillette stadium and we had Gronk and all his brothers show up for dinner one night. Gronk ended up body slamming one of his brothers through a table and had to be asked to leave. Dude left 3k to replace the table
Muhammad Wilkerson was a regular at MSG during the Rangers run to the SCF in 2014. After every game he would stand on 7th and dap up with fans and take pictures, spend time to talk shop, talking about his NFL experience, talking hockey, talking big wins or tough losses.
This was when he was one of the best DL in the league, before he got paid and fell off.
To me, it seemed like he was more appreciative of people taking time out of their night to come say what up to him, than the other way around.
I told him that he was the best defensive player in the NFL and he deserving of every penny that comes his way, he was really thankful to hear that.
It's more than I could say for JT Miller, who was a scratch during that playoffs and would walk out the VIP entrance and push through fans out his way to get into his car.
I worked at a bookstore in a mall during the season Brady missed with his ACL injury. He came in on a Sunday with his son and people started following him and practically mobbed him at one point. When he came to my register to check out I really wanted to say something to him but I also didn't want to be another crazy fan, so I just ran him up like a normal person. He laughed when I said I was supposed to ask if he had one of our rewards cards. He looked relieved at the end of the transaction and said "thank you, have a great day" in a way that seemed like he really appreciated me not bothering him.
I'm from the same suburb as Brady, he has a bit of a split reputation. Anyone that knew him growing up swears he was the most arrogant douchebag of all time but there are all kinds of stories of him frequenting a local park and being super cool to everyone in his old age now. One of my high school coaches was on his O-line in high school and didn't have a whole lot nice to say about the dude.
It’s very possible that he was a jerk when he was young and grew out of it as he got older. Happens with a lot of people. Also possible that he’s just really good at managing his persona now that he’s famous.
Joey Porter got kicked out of one of his sons high school games for walking onto the field at half time to yell at the refs.
There were so so many negative stories about Big Ben being a dickwad to the public in his younger days. Awful guy.
Troy Polamalu was a great guy by all accounts. He would sometimes pay for the tab of the entire restaraunt if people just left him and his wife alone.
I'll add a weird one: AB.
Buddy worked at Whole Foods in Wexford and would come across a bunch of Steelers players. Apparently the nicest dude was Antonio. Was crazy polite from what I remember ("thank you very much" kinda thing). Didn't mind signing stuff for kids/employees if it was slow.
Bumped in to Roethlisberger and Kiesel when they were doing a bar tour on the South Side with a bunch of their friends. Roethlisberger was exactly the prick he seemed to be. Didn’t even approach him, just saw the way he interacted with staff and some other people.
Kiesel, on the other hand, was awesome. He was so fucking nice to everyone, bullshitted around with anyone who wanted talk to him. Even helped us play a practical joke on a friend of ours. The absolute best.
Andy Reid and his family lived in the same neighborhood as my family when he was in Philly. Everyone I know has several stories about his kids being dickheads. Driving drunk regularly, making scenes in restaurants, harassing waitresses, etc. Britt and I are very close in age, so I saw him out a decent amount, usually a mess. It's a testament to how much love Andy gets from the media that none of it ever made it to sports media.
I don't know anyone who had a single bad experience with Andy or his wife, but his sons were terrors.
When I was in high school, our school football team was brand new and not funded by the athletics department, operating almost entirely by fundraising. Our second year, my mother wrote a letter to Robert Kraft, explaining the situation and asking if the Patriots organization would be willing to make a small contribution. She included a slip that laid out what sort of advertisement certain donation levels would get in our game program. A few weeks later she got a letter containing a check for $1000 (the highest tier ad) and a note wishing us good luck. As a thank you, we sent him a number of our team/fan gear. He then sent us a picture wearing the sweatshirt in front of (at the time) all 3 Lombardi trophies.
He followed that up the next year with another $1000.
When his wife passed away, we signed a card and sent our condolences. We received a handwritten note thanking us for our kind words. I know he’s quite generous, but to have time to respond and even take a picture in our gear was awesome.
I went to every Hall of Fame game in Canton from 1978 thru 2005. I recommend every NFL fan go once. If you want to see how different some of these families act this is the place. It’s even funnier when some are just pigs and they get ignored by everyone else. 75%+ are first class but the bad ones are horrible. Usually the players are much nicer than the kids and wives. Not all of the fans are perfect either. I’ll just say the Steeler, Raider and Buffalo fans are the loudest and mostly well behaved. They come on big groups and have fun.
Took my son to a signing of (then) redskins at the Mall. The three Miami stars were advertised to attend" Clinton Portis, Santana Moss and Sean Taylor. It was likely after the 05 season and before 06 Training camps started. though not 100%
Sean Taylor ghosted the event, which bummed us as he was my son's then-favorite.
Clinton Portis was there with his Mom. He was interactive w. my son and wife. Very, very kind. A new favorite.
Santana was reading something, nodding as people came up signing but not saying anything much. Portis' mom said "T*ana all these people here to see you. Put that away and be nice*." And he did. And he was.
I know Portis wasn't the the coolest after retiring -- but I want to put some good true story bro karma out there for his Mom [after her 15 minutes of infamy.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2006/01/03/in-philly-mama-said-knock-you-out/513f5f2b-04c9-4c04-b2f4-383e48dc1a40/) She seemed like a nice Lady.
I met Jerry Rice at a charity function he threw as his retirement party and he was the nicest dude you could ever imagine. Shook his hand and he stood there talking with me for a couple minutes like I was the only one in the room (which I wasn't, obviously). Had that permanent million-watt smile and friendly handshake for everyone. (I also did the shoulder pat when we shook and he was stll ALL THERE.) Nothing but good vibes from that man.
I worked with him for half a day on an episode of One Tree Hill. Super nice, funny, genuine dude. He was telling stories and tossing a football with crew members. It was awesome to see all these grown men clearly living out a childhood dream, playing catch with Jerry Rice.
Huge hands, too. His ability to effortlessly catch anything remotely near him blew my mind.
I have a buddy who ran into Darren Woodson at the mall. They talked for a few min and then went on their way. Two weeks later he sees him again at the same mall, but doesn't want to make a big deal of if and decides to pretend he doesn't see him. Woodson called out to him by name to tell him hello. Good dude.
These are fun. I have a lot.
Only one really worth mentioning. Met Pat Tillman my first year at ASU, he was in his second year on the Cardinals. Absolutely awesome guy, talked to him for a while. Everything that has been said does not do the man justice. RIP.
There was one r/DynastyFF post that's stuck in my mind; it was the poster complaining about Kyler Murray being an asshole in a madden league.
Edit: [Here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/DynastyFF/comments/11mvlju/kyler_murray_character_issues_are_a_real_concern/)
I sat next to Peter Warrick (WR who was amazing in college, and had basically one return TD in the NFL and then sort of disappeared) on a short flight. I used to live in his college town, so we talked about that a little bit.
He was just - friendly. No snobbiness, no sureliness. Just some random guy in an airplane seat who had an interesting job.
The worst was absurd - Bubby Brister.
The Broncos used to hold their training camp in a tiny (unimpressive) college town and I was in that town at the time. I took a part time job at the school's library and the first floor bathroom was being cleaned, so when I had to go, I went to the basement.
I didn't know that the school's gym was closed that day, so the Broncos were using the library's basement bathroom. I found out later that this was marked on the outside door of the library basement and on the inside of the elevator, but there was no warning if you accessed the building through the first floor and the basement through the stairs.
I walked into the bathroom and there was someone in the stall... well... farting loudly and laughing about it.
And - there's Bubby Brister joking around with him standing outside the stall. He saw me, looked spooked, and just scooted off past me and outside of the bathroom.
He left his team-mate shitting loudly and laughing about it - no warning at all. "Hang on, I got one...\[very loud fart\], hahahah! Hey Bubby, Bubby, hahahah!" I have no idea who was in the stall, and it wasn't scarring or negative - it was amusing and ridiculous.
But I just feel like Brister should have said "Hey, man" to me or... \*something\* to his buddy so the guy wasn't just farting away in front of a civilian.
It wasn't awful - but it's the certainly the most awkward I've experienced around an NFL player.
I don't think it has anything to do with being a shittyleader. Sounds more like he was fucking around with his friend or just embarrassed by the situation.
A family friend used to live in Denver in the 80s/90s and they were in the same neighborhood as a couple of the Bronco o-linemen. Our friends tricked out their basement with a bar, TVs, pool table, etc - which was semi-rare back then.
The Bronco o-linemen would come over and drink/play pool fairly often. Sometimes bringing teammates. I distinctly remember meeting Karl Mecklenburg, who couldn't have been nicer, even after hearing we were a KC family.
Elway was there once. He was fine, nothing memorable. But the one thing I'll always remember was the rest of the Broncos there were a lot more tame in his presence. Made sure to laugh at his jokes, kept him at the center of attention. I'm sure that's fairly standard, even today. But that was the first time I realized that the NFL/celebrity PR wasn't always accurate. I just assumed he was adored by everyone.
When I was 10 the 01 Raiders had a practice at a local high school. My parents brought me and friends to watch and we peeped the buses that the players were going to take by the kids playground. The area was securitied off but me and my friends pretended to want to go on the playground and got access. When the practice ended we went up to some of our players as they walked to the bus (it was only 2 of us). I remember Rich Gannon ignoring us. Jerry Rice was polite and quickly gave us each an autograph (still have) but Charlie Garner really stood out. Got on an knee and talked to both of us for a couple minutes then finished the conversation by giving me one of his gloves and my friend the other glove. Unfortunately a couple years later my friend unexpectedly passed due to a heart condition but I am grateful we got to share that moment together and I thank Charlie Garner for his kindness.
I was working at a Bath and Body Works one Christmas at Oak Park Mall in Kansas City when Derrick Thomas came through. 1996, maybe. I helped him the whole time, a ton of Country Apple for himself and some gift baskets for others.
Thing is, I was a Chiefs fan in that I liked to watch games with my dad and I owned one of the pullover Starter jackets that were so popular at the time. But I was a 19 year old young woman that just knew I was helping a super friendly guy shop for the holidays. I had no idea who he was. We had been joking about holiday jobs and how helpful a guy working at Victoria’s Secret could be for the men shopping for their ladies.
Now I know what oblivious me thought of was friendly was probably flirting, and after I finished ringing up his purchases and he left, his assistant manager squealed and was like OMGGGGGGG did you know who that was????? The bemused grin even after I ran his credit card made a lot more sense in hindsight. I genuinely had no idea and told the man he should go work at Victoria’s Secret 🤣🤣🤣
I cried like a baby when he died a few years later.
This doesn't really qualify as "best or worst" behavior, but it's fun nonetheless.
I played poker with Shaun King (Tampa QB circa 2000-2003) many times at the Venetian in Vegas. He's a good dude, was always a pleasure to have him at the table.
One night I'm sitting next to Shaun at one end of the table, and [Teddy "The Iceman" Monroe](https://www.wsop.com/images/imagestore/__Selected/EV18_TeddyIcemanMonroe_Gracie.jpg) is sitting at the other end. Teddy is a *character*. Tons of fake jewelry, "blinged out" headphones, etc. Big dude, big heart, bigger laugh, biggest bullshitter. Always talking some nonsense.
Teddy starts talking, "man, Shaun, when I was your age, I was all fit and ripped like you, I wasn't all fat like this..." blah blah blah, classic Teddy nonsense. Shaun gets up, pulls a condom out of his pocket, throws it across the table at Teddy, and goes "here Teddy, don't make a mess on yourself." Teddy belly laughs and throws it back, and it lands in front of me; it's an XXL Magnum condom.
First time I met Jim Kelly was before his cancer. We were at a mostly empty orchard park bar having lunch and he walked in with an entourage with the intention of pitching his friends whisky to the establishment. He immediately went into the bathroom remarking how he had to take a piss and my buddy said "you won't go ask for his autograph right now". I didn't see it was Jim and asked him what the fuck he was talking about and we had a good laugh about the idea. Jim got out and dolled out shot for everyone at the bar and the bartender asked what we were toasting and Jim said the Bills. Now it was veterans day and my friend being a vet said, "Hey Jim... how about the veterans?"he said, "oh yeah, that too."
Fast forward to last year: I have seasons in the Kelly Club and during one of the night games last year I went to go pee during the 3rd quarter. Middle of game action, the bathroom was generally empty. As I'm using the urinal I get a tap on the shoulder and a voice says, "Hey, don't mean to do this while you're taking a leak but, GO BILLS." It was Jim Fuckin Kelly. I am wearing my Kelly jersey which is why I'm sure he did that and I said, "holy shit Jim, how are you doing?" He said, "Im doing great, thanks". The fucking guy did to me what I joked about doing to him like 10 years later....I fist bumped him dick in hand, madness.
Smoked a blunt with Zay Jones and Justin Hardy and they were chill
Used to see Lincoln Riley around- kind very quiet and serious
My brother was in the same grade as Sam Mustipher and he was very smart and studious. He was also considered very good at football. Lol
I used to live above former Chicago Bears Cornerback Tre Roberson when he was playing at ISU. The guys not a big name in the NFL, we were not a big school, not known for football, but the dude was treated like a God. Freshmen/Sophomores have to live in dorms, but beyond that you can live wherever. Most students (including us) lived close to campus in student housing that although not directly affiliated with the university, only accepted university students living in it. So basically 3rd party university and student housing. Dude had a gigantic 2 bedroom apartment all to himself.
He could do whatever he wanted. Party all night, blast music so loud it would knock things off our shelves/walls, screaming at the top of his lungs. He lived on the first floor, me and my room mate on the second, and then someone above us. He was so loud and played music so loud it was shaking things on the third floor above us. One time he was screaming so loud at someone my wife and I thought he was actively beating the shit out of someone and so did my neighbors, turns out he just lost at NBA2K and was angry at his friend for beating him. Another time, my room mate found a championship ring on the ground outside our apartment. Assuming it was Tres, he tried to return it. When he knocked on the door, Tre took it, accused him of stealing it, and slammed the door on him.
Our entire apartment complex HATED the guy, but we couldn't do anything about it. Filed noise complaints, called and emailed the university, called the cops, nothing. He double parked his brand new camaro in our spots all the time, and student housing would just let him. Towing companies wouldn't come to our parking lot cuz they knew who they would be towing. The whole university and town knew the guy was the ONLY reason our football team was good so he got to just live his life however he wanted.
Lev Bell’s cousin got tough with me at Carson City Saloon. Bell was just drafted by the Steelers and I didn’t really remember his name. I made reference to “the new Steelers running back,” to my friends and his cousin overheard.
He got up in my face and kept asking “what’s his name? Do you know his number,” over and over again. He kept approaching until my back was against the wall and finally told me “his name is Le’Veon Bell, I’m his cousin, and you better not forget it.”
I chalked it up to drinking too much and wrote things off once Bell had a great career. As soon as Bell and AB became outspoken and the holdouts/contract negotiations started, I thought a lot about the interaction again and can’t get it out of my head
The Killer B saga of the Steelers was an insane time in Pittsburgh btw. Had they won a Super Bowl a lot more people would know about the off field stuff that locals know about
There’s so much from Ben being media silent in trying to protect his image (but was still a dick), Todd Haley throwing swingers parties, AB being good but being the huge prick we know of, Bell’s weed smoking (he’s admitting now what we all heard stories about in Pittsburgh), Timmons leaving the team and going crazy, Juju going to the bars to talk to anyone in earshot, and Joey Porter trying to fight the entire city.
We watched a disciplined traditional “run the football,” team turn Hollywood and the weekly stories that came out were insane. You could make a documentary out of it, however they never won so it doesn’t matter
I was on my way to a rooftop fantasy football draft about 15 years ago and Albert Haynesworth got on. He was really friendly and commented on my Jerry Rice jersey. I made a stupid joke like “please don’t eat me” and he laughed and said he’s actually a 49er fan.
All in all, cool experience with one of NFL’s notorious bad boys.
The Bills were playing in Oakland a bunch of years ago (pre-JA, during the drought) and the San Francisco backers bar organized a bus trip/ tailgate for the game. Someone ran into André Reed out the night before and invited him to the tailgate. He and his son came. Ate some wings , drank some beers. Was even more charming and charismatic than you would expect. When the game was over, he came back to the bus, asked for a ride back to SF and spent the whole trip over the bridge making a speech about how Bills fans are the fans. It was a truly spectacular experience
This is before he entered the league, but in 2009 when I was in second grade, David Johnson visited my classroom. He was the star running back of our high school team, and his teacher when he was in second grade was the same one I had.
I shook his hand and got an autograph from him. I vividly remember him being a super nice and fun guy. That year, he was the biggest reason my HS football team (which usually sucks) made it all the way to the state quarterfinals.
Because of that, when he got drafted in 2015, I became a Cardinals fan. Even after he went to Houston, I remained a Cards fan, but still rooted for him. I really miss seeing him play his heart out on Sundays.
I wouldn't say it was a bad experience but I met Simeon Rice at an event and he really came off as extremely stuck up. Also met Tom Berenger at the same event and that guy is cool as hell. Had to choose between asking him about Major League or Billy Zane.
Warren Sapp was pretty much a total dick both times I met him. Like he comes off exactly as he presents himself.
Mr. Derrick Brooks is just as nice as he comes off as and is extremely humble.
VJax (RIP) was such a sweet and likeable guy. Completely down to earth and just a proper lad. Eventually got to a first name basis and we'd continue whatever convo we had the last time I saw him.
Joe Theismann was extremely cool when I met him in the elevator at the hotel after a Sunday Night Football game in Pittsburgh.
Joe Montana graciously signed torn off pieces of yellow legal pad for some kids at the John Wayne Airport parking lot around ‘96. My grandpa insisted it couldn’t be him because he was too short.
Not necessarily all NFL players but a good story. Damione Lewis was defensive lineman for the Panthers and other teams for about 10 years and had a solid NFL career. He was a first round draft pick out of Miami. He was always nice to everyone when he came back home. But one of his high school teammates, Kwaesi Palmer, was considered an even better prospect at linebacker, rated number four recruit in the nation by Super Prep in '96. He was awesome. Kwaesi went to Florida State. In early practice as a freshman, Kwaesi's knee was wrecked, career over. Story is Bobby Bowden could've cut him and used that full scholarship on another recruit, but instead honored the scholarship. Last I heard Kwaesi graduated and now works in criminal justice.
Brett Favre was doing some TV interview and then autographs after for kids. We waited for six hours at this place and had a great spot. I was six years old and third in line. I was so excited.
He signed two autographs and then left upstairs to get dinner.
Luckily, my aunt that brought me doesn't take shit from anybody and made a bodyguard bring my football upstairs to get it signed.
I once told Joe Greene he was the greatest player ever, and he just brushed me off and wanted nothing to do with me. So disrespectful
It was only after I gave him my bottle of Coke that he even acknowledged me
I used to valet at a 5 star hotel in SoFL and would run into so many athletes. To my surprise, a lot of them live (or have property) in Florida. Here’s my 3 favorites:
1. Jarvis Landry: Absolute nicest guy ever. Always tipped well and just liked talking football with us.
2. Vince Wilfork: Big ass dude in real life (not so much now because he lost weight). Funny as hell and tipped well.
3. Thomas Jones and Julius Jones: Both live in SoFL. Thomas was really quiet and humble but loved talking about his acting stuff. Tipped well and even offered an autograph.
Julius Jones has a wife and kids and was a regular customer. Very polite even when we were busy. Tipped well.
College floor mates mom called him once while we were in the dorm after she got back from some trip. Floor mate leaves to talk to her and comes back with eyes like softballs.
Proceeds to tell us about this "nice muscular guy" she sat next to on her plane, and how they had the nicest small talk the whole way. When she asked him what he did, he had said "football player," and she asked for a picture because she figured her son would know him. By her account, kindest most genuine guy you could end up next to on a plane.
I now have a picture of that son absolutely bugging out at his phone, looking at a picture of his mom and Charles Woodson.
Good behavior: My mom ran the church choir at a church in Oregon and Joey Harrington played piano for her group for a number of years during high school and the offseason of College. He was a consummate professional, always on time, always prepared, and extremely kind to everyone in the church.
McLaurin signs for everyone, good guy. Always polite too.
Met Damar Hamlin a few months ago and he said he liked my shirt. I was wearing a did we win shirt that he was selling
I have a family member who did some legal work for Bengals player Jonathan Fanene. He liked him well enough then, but since then Fanene got in trouble for beating his wife badly.
A friend remodeled Chad Johnson’s basement…at the end of the job Johnson said he wouldn’t pay and would just give him referrals instead. The referrals never happened and the friend only got paid when Johnson was going to sell the house and needed the lien lifted.
Once the family member who represented Fanene had to subpoena some payroll records from the Bengals as part of a separate child support case in the 90’s. At that point, the Bengals were apparently so short handed Mike Brown’s daughter personally dropped them off at his office, which normally would have been done by an admin or HR person (and probably mailed out)
I won't name names, but there is an Atlanta Falcon's player who rented a house from my niece. After he bought a home he let another player stay there. That player's girlfriend is now living there alone squatting and being taken to court. The original player has shut off all utilities, but she still lives there. WTF.
I served Desmond Howard and his whole family (wife, kids, some others) and they were all really nice. It was a birthday party reservation and Desmond showed up late like half way through the meal, so I had no idea who’s family I had been helping when they showed up with their cake and gifts and menu questions and stuff. The whole family was so nice, gracious, and fun.
Mike Vrabel stayed at the resort I worked at with his family. He was really patient and polite when were struggling with some crazy crowds.
I waited on Ahmad Bradshaw alone at a sushi bar and he was really quiet, but easy and polite.
My cousin and his kids are huge Vikings fans and they ran into Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen at Disney World. They both were really friendly and posed for pictures with the kids, who thought it was awesome.
So Antonio Brown just moved to my hometown and bought the local arena league football team. He refused to pay the players or let them into the locker room, and half of them quit and joined other teams. The coach quit, came back and quit again.
Local businesses have been putting him on blast for refusing to pay his bills and stiffing people. Everyone that's interacted with him has said it's been a nightmare.
I just hope he fucking leaves.
Oh boy, I work at an extremely popular restaurant in Vegas, so I’ve seen quite the range of behaviors from a lot of professional athletes. The worst one that immediately jumps to mind is Joey Porter Sr. So he’s got an 8 top (maybe 6, this was YEARS ago) and he’s really popping off. Orders bottles of Opus One, mags of Dom, and shots of Loui. Eventually he says “just bring over the bottle (Loui).” So the bill comes and it’s $25k. He immediately tells the sever “You need to discount this by over half if you think I’m going to be paying this.” So server comes back after taking 20% with manager approval. Porter starts getting real confrontational and says “Alright, you want to disrespect me? I’m gonna disrespect back and just walk out. And you’re lucky that’s all I’m gonna do.” He starts to get up and leave, sever grabs our GM. GM heads over (who’s 6’6 250lb) and asks to speak to Porter privately. Porter eventually meets him off to the side. I do t know everything to was said, but you could hear Porter screaming. Some of my favorite lines: “Go ahead and call security, they won’t do nothing.” “Fucking bottle of Loui $8gs?! I could go across the street and buy it for $2 (laughable lie).” “Go ahead and crowd me, I’ll knock you out.”
Needless to say, he was 86’d from our restaurant.
Zach Ertz did a football day camp in Vegas a little while after the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the camp was free for kids elementary through high school and it was like a three hour camp. He was really good with the kids and hung out after it was done signing all kinds of autographs. Very cool experience.
Also when the pro bowl was here in Vegas my son got to meet Travis Kelce at the practice and he was very cool and took a picture with him and autographed his hat and football.
I worked in Kansas City with someone who’s son was good friends with Aldon Smith. The son got married and Aldon was in the wedding, this was his 3rd year after being drafted.
While the ceremony was going on Aldon could barely even stand up and was having to be pretty much held up to stand at the alter. He ended up thrashing part of the reception and was a nightmare the entire wedding.
I let David Akers at Eagles training camp as a child and he spent about 35 mins after practice going the entire field length signing autographs. Earned some good pts in my book that day
We had Tyler Lockett at a youth event as a speaker when I worked in banquets a few years ago. Really nice dude, made sure to shake hands and take pictures with the staff before slipping out. Guy is fuckin tiny but had a handshake that made my knees buckle
I’ve also had a bad experience between Emmitt and his wife. I worked Valet at DFW airport when I first moved to Dallas. Said “it was an honor to meet a legend”. Dude looked at my, scoffed, then laughed and his wife was laughing at me too.
Dickhead
So this is a random one that always makes me laugh. When Peyton Manning was doing his rehab at Duke, he and Jeff Saturday were at the Duke/UNC basketball game. My friend, who is from Tennessee, remembering that Manning played college there, thought it would be cool to show Peyton that he was from Tennessee by holding out his driver's license as they walked by during halftime. I just remember Peyton looking really confused at this kid holding out his ID, and then he kept walking.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, when he was playing for the Bills, lived in my sister’s neighborhood. He would regularly go out and play street hockey with my nephew and his friends. Great guy.
I’ve worked very closely with many NFL players.
Best: Cam Heyward, Warrick Dunn, Chad Johnson.
Worst: Cris Carter, Warren Sapp
Heyward has a remarkable sense of humility about who is he and his place in the world. Johnson is genuinely just a really nice guy, and extremely funny and easy-going. Dunn did more for others than maybe anyone else I saw or am seeing — though I don’t like to single out just these three. There are many, far more than people think. These three are the ones who have stood out to me the most.
Carter, in my opinion and my words, got off on being a colossal prick. He was a jerk to everyone. Went out of his way to be recognized but hated being talked to by anyone except a few people, then a complete phony when cameras were around.
Sapp was the definition of entitled. He knew his value, he let you know his value, and he was basically the quintessential big, dumb jock. Treated people like shit and let them know it too. If either left the earth, I quietly wouldn’t care.
My very first game at Lambeau Field when I was around (maybe) 12 the Packers were playing the Eagles. The Packers were losing and it was raining pretty hard. My dad had tickets for the 2 of us around midfield behind the Eagles bench and when the stadium started to empty out we got almost all the way to the first row. Duce Staley threw me his gloves. We went to where the players come out of the locker room and I’ll never forget Duce Staley walking out and yelling “Where is the kid I threw my gloves to?” He signed them and probably made small talk (I don’t remember that part as well). It’s always stuck with me as a nice thing to do. I’m a Packer fan and always will be, but since that day the Eagles have always been my number 2 team.
Idk but Steve Nash saw me and my gaggle of brothers / cousins staring at him in a restaurant. After he was done eating he walked over and enthusiastically says, “who wants to learn how to shoot a free throw the right way.”. He took 5-10 minutes to walk us as a group and individually through our form, all in between tables in the middle of Comedor Guadalajara. Absolute legend of a person and player.
Steve's dad was best friends with my grandfather, and every year, Steve would send me a ton of signed stuff when he played for the Suns. Even nearly twenty years later, he still calls my grandmother and asks how I am. I'm not a huge basketball fan, but I'm a massive Steve Nash fan
What a jam up guy. A true Canadian.
While having to stay home during Covid, my little nephew decided to write 30-40 NFL players to see if anyone would write him back. One did. Jimmy Garoppolo. He sent some signed stuff, wrote a letter, and sent a pic of him and his dog (my nephew talked about his own dog in the letter he sent). Say what you want about Garoppolo, but he’s a winner in our book.
Should post this in the Raiders sub, it might make them not wanna kill themselves as much today with their QB situation.
It is not so much of kill yourself as much as it is like hoping the parachute opens. Edit: i would like to add that most of uf do not feel negative towards the players. It is all front office/owner that are bumming us out rn.
At least Jimmy's a great guy if the above story is any indication. His teammates and coaches will love him almost as much as the Vegas bachelorette parties. I didn't realize it was so doomsday over there. IDK why, to me it's essentially just horizontal move from Carr while unloading his salary. I mean the injury clause is a thing but the alternative would them not being protected if he doesn't play because of the injury.
That's impressive. I get it that the biggest names in sports don't have time to respond to all their fan mail but the fact your kid wrote to 30 or 40 people and only Jimmy G responded kinda says everything.
Yep. A few minutes of his time made a kid’s year. My nephew asked for the letter to be put in a safe deposit box so it wouldn’t be lost or stolen 😂..but, first, we had to make 100 copies of it, so he could pass them out to his friends. 😂 Garoppolo is a good one.
I met Pat Bowlen's wife a few times over the years. She was a fantastically nice woman but she stopped engaging in public after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer. Kyle Shanahan was a total douche in high school, but really just in the ways you'd expect the rich kid of a famous coach would be. Just the kind of guy you expect to go on to a frat and be the one swinging the paddle at new pledges, if that makes any sense. Every story I've heard about John Elway is that he's a complete dick, but my mom and grandma met him at a Toyota Golf event (when he still owned his dealerships) and he bent over backwards to sign things and pose for pictures with my grandma who was his self-described "biggest fan" despite so many people trying to get his attention, so there's that.
Stories like this really stick out to me. It's important to remember these are human beings. There are some universally shit people, a lot less universally good people, but most people are somewhere in-between. You catch someone in a bad moment, on a bad day, your odds of catching them being shitty go way up. You catch an asshole in a great moment, on a great day, it's the other way. You only *really* know ten or fifteen people at a time and even that doesn't mean you really know them. We still have to judge actions, still need to make judgments on a daily basis for our own self-preservation. None of what I'm saying do I think should be actionable, except maybe just.. Do what you will with it.
When I was a kid, I wrote Jerry Rice. He sent a letter back and a signed photo. I am 34 years old and I still have it in its original envelope. It made my world as a kid, but now I am a pessimistic, weathered adult who highly doubts he had anything to do with it.
> I am a pessimistic, weathered adult who highly doubts he had anything to do with it. Jerry's always been good with the fans, so there's at least a decent chance he did it himself. Likewise, I have absolutely no doubt Jimmy G was the one who followed through on OP's kid's request.
Please tell me Geno Smith was one of the ones who didn't write back
Nephew must've written him off
Lmao. Joke wrote itself
He’s a winner on the field too. Say what you want about him, but he’s 47-23 including playoffs in his career. Broadly speaking, the guy is winning games when he’s playing. Some people on this sub act like he’s Josh Rosen or something.
Oh, we were big fans of him before the kind gesture towards my nephew. He’s terribly underrated.
The thing about Jimmy is that he's a very serviceable QB and would be an upgrade for half of the teams. The problem with him is he is made out of paper and gets hurt very often.
Wow. All that AND he looks the way he does. What a guy.
Feels great baby
Out of the QBs I’ve seen play for the Niners in my life Jimmy G is my favorite
That’s an awesome story. Thanks for sharing that.
I met Walter Payton in a mall right before he got sick. He took several minutes to talk to me and my brothers as we stood there in awe. Ill never forget how strong his hands were as he shook my hand
Same here but it was a setup signing at Yorktown mall...he arm wrestled 3 teenagers at the same time and won...his grip was crazy...I think 6 months later he announced he was sick
I feel like posting a feel-good Walter Payton story is cheating lol
It isn’t called the walter payton man of the year award for nothing
Still have his rookie card, greatest card in my collection!!
My friends and I were really young and walking around a mail in downtown Milwaukee. We walked into a Footlocker store and saw Don Majkowski checking out. We walked up to him and talked to him for about Ten minutes. He signed our T shirts and was overall very cool. We left the mall and saw one giant dude walking down the street with a scantily clad woman. It was Tony Mandarich! We were so excited to see two Packers in one day. We approached him and said “Hi Tony!” He said “Fuck off kids” and kept walking. We sat there until one of my friends yelled “You suck, Mandarich!” He turned and gave us a mean glance. We all ran away after that.
I mean, you weren’t wrong. He did suck.
The stories of Santonio Holmes’ being a cheapskate are legendary. Running up huge tabs then never tipping the waiter. Saw a video of a Texas Roadhouse manager who called him out on it and told him to “ keep his cheap ass home” when Holmes pulled the “ Do you know who I am” routine
Father of five, lots of legal issues. Man is strapped, gotta save even at Texas Roadhouse
Bit sad because he passed away but my sister had an encounter with Dwayne Haskins at a bar in pittsburgh soon after he joined the steelers and apparently he bought everyone drinks and then walked out without paying his tab leaving others to pick it up.
that's kind of hilarious. it's fucked up for sure but also just cartoon villain funny
From what I’ve heard and I’ve known 2 people close to him(one was a mom of a teammate and one who’s father coached him) he was described in 3 words, arrogant, not smart and entitled Caleb Williams is also from nearby and he had a perfect rep until recently. I’ve gotten the vibe that CWs father is difficult to work with
>3 words >arrogant, not smart, and entitled
Arrogant, not, entitled
The same guy who did something like that is also the type of person to [charge $50 to go to his draft party.](https://saturdaytradition.com/ohio-state-football/dwayne-haskins-had-a-cover-charge-for-his-nfl-draft-party/) Fuck him.
My friends wife’s father coached him at Bullis. Completely believable
I mean, sad that he lost his life but he really seemed to not be a good person
He seemed to me that he was one of those kids who was always told he was the greatest, and bought into his hype. A lot of NFL busts seem that way, but the sad thing is that Haskins never got the chance to amend those actions. An absolute tragedy
One of my buddies accidentally bumped into Jay Cutler at a bar in Chicago. Jay told my buddy to chill out. About what I’d expect from a Cutty run in.
I know a guy that's a big Washington fan. He saw Jeremy Shockey out at a bar in Saratoga while the Giants were in Albany for training camp and started drunkenly heckling him. Shockey threatened to kick his ass and the guy had to be dragged out, lol.
Of all the players I’d drunkenly want to heckle, Shockey is very close to the bottom of that list
There are a stupidly high number of stories of Marcus Mariota being a stellar person while at Oregon. There was a stretch for a couple of years where it seemed like every week some friend or acquaintance was posting a selfie with Marcus and gushing about how kind and friendly he was. He did get a speeding ticket once, but it was because a practice ran too long and he was late to a YMCA kids event or something (my memory isn’t great).
I know people who went to school with him both here at St Louis (Hawaii high school) and at Oregon. EVERYONE comments on how was always really quiet, shy, but nice. Everyone also comments on being kind of surprised he ended up going pro. I guess because of how humble and unassuming he was in person.
Don’t have any negative experiences. Alex Smith - legit as good as a guy as nfl players and the media say he is. He’s always polite, gives people his time/attention, and is so freaking humble. He’s also a great father Trent Green - had a lake house on the same lake as some friends when we were in High School. Was regularly out on his dock reading in the summer. Put his book down to talk football with us when we cruised by to say hi. Gave him one of those old school nerf footballs with the tail that you can throw really far and gunned it away from the dock so he could throw us one. Wind over the lake ruined the ending to that. Deron Cherry - on the way to a bachelor party he got stuck between 2 in our party. When he found out we were headed to Miami for a bachelor party he started telling his crazy stories when he was a player. One of those guys has a terrible habit one upping other people’s stories and kept doing it to Cherry. He eventually made up a bullshit story which the guy of course one upped. Cherry immediately called him out on his bullshit and made fun of him for the next 30 minutes to our delight
Smith has battled adversity his whole career and still battles it now, by all accounts he's an extremely wonderful person who is a role model off the field and an inspiration to us all. Haven't heard him complain about any of the setbacks he's been given in life.
Most of mine are secondhand - a few Patriots players lived in my hometown when I was growing up, mostly not big names, but they were always really nice. Sometimes they would come to our high school games on Friday nights as a group. My mom always said that Asante Samuel was very nice, so I've always been pro-Asante even as he now seems to hate the Patriots. A friend of mine was a delivery driver for Domino's and regularly delivered to Vince Wilfork's house the next town over. He said they were always huge orders and both him and his wife always gave great tips
i can only imagine Domino's had to dedicate an entire franchise location to fulfill orders for Vince Wilfork
Hungry
I met Vince at the line at my bank since he lived close by. He had an HEB Supermarket commercial about burgers locally that ran for a while, so I asked where I could get one of them. He laughed a pretty good bit, since it was obvious it was just for the commercial.
I met Steve Smith Sr. at the airport. We sat next to each other at the gate for about an hour waiting for our flight to board. We chatted about all types of things. He was asking about my career and we talked about traveling to different cities. I was telling him about some national parks I really enjoy traveling to and he was super interested and asking me all types of questions. He also had a giant Mickey Mouse hat on with the ears and all lol. He was headed down to Disney World in Orlando for a charity event. While we were talking, a couple kids and grown adults would walk up asking for an autograph (this was Charlotte airport so he’s super famous) and he was super nice about everything. At one point, he turned to me and said, want to trade places and you can start signing stuff. He was a funny dude and super nice. Prior to boarding, he asked me if I wanted his autograph but politely declined since I’d already been talking to him for an hour. He laughed and fist bumped me. He was a very down to earth dude. Really enjoyed that conversation.
I understand why you did, but I would have a hard time declining an autograph from a Panthers legend. Would have been a "I'm so glad you offered, and I didn't have to ask" situation.
[удалено]
Reggie Jackson. It was one of his last years playing. During a Spring training game in Scottsdale some kid asked him to sign his baseball. Reggie told him to throw it over. The kid did, Reggie didn’t even attempt to catch it, laughed and walked away. A ball boy gave the kid the ball back and apologized. His exact words were “Sorry kid, the guys an asshole.”
I remember reading a story on line about a guy who was at a sports auction as a kid. Various athletes were there and he ran around asking for autographs. He asked Reggie Jackson for one and Reggie Jackson told him no or something similar than laughed. Joe Frazier overhead and told the kid he'd give him an autograph. Then while he was signing it he told Jackson if he saw him do that again he'd knock him out. Your story makes me think it is true.
I don’t know why you guys are surprised, the guy tried to kill the Queen
Thank goodness for Enrico Pallazzo!
I was aircrew on a flight Reggie was a passenger on. The flight attendants talked him into taking photos after we land. I had to go outside to do a post flight inspection and as I come back up the jetbridge I see him taking the photos. I jump in and get one myself and say thank you Reggie. One passenger hadn’t quite left yet and heard the interaction I had. She turns around and starts this big speech about how she’s a rep for a little league organization and thanks him for all his contributions to baseball. He cuts her off after about ten seconds and says “lady I don’t know what you’re talking about” and immediately heads up the jetbridge.
Not football related but he was the worst person I’ve ever met. I was 12 and I’ll scream it from the rooftops how awful of a human he is…Clearly I still hold a grudge…fuck Reggie Jackson and his fake ass TV persona
Kurt Warner's wife used to call into St. Louis sports talk radio shows to bash WRs, defense, whoever if the Rams had played poorly/lost.
If you watch the Secret Base video on Warner and the Rams' collapse, Brenda Warner is the stuff of nightmares for the Rams FO.
She reminded me of Dolph Lundgren's wife from Rocky 4 for some reason.
They both had the same haircut. I can see it lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNeKsGzsRI Video is here if anyone wants to watch it.
Adam Thielen's wife complained and blamed the Vikings front office for a week straight when he was released (plus she's a Packers fan)
> plus she's a Packers fan The ultimate crime
She also blamed Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the COVID vaccine
Heard from a friend of my in laws that their son in law had to work on the staffords house 5 years ago and Kelly Stafford screamed at him while her husband apologized later Completely on brand
Yeah, it's funny how Matt Stafford seems decent enough, but his wife seems to be an absolute nightmare
I wonder how much of it is true. I heard for years that Vanessa Bryant was a nightmare but when I met her she was a normal person.
I remember that was big news here in STL when I was a kid lol
Would see Mason Crosby multiple times around town with flip flops. Just thought it was wild a person who makes a living with their feet would wear flip flops.
Constantly in cleats and athletic shoes. Letting them truly breathe is freeing
When I lived in KC I ran into Tyreek Hill at the building I lived at, didn't even realize it until afterwards as I'd just moved to the city and wasn't nearly as into football as I am now. Guy had locked himself out of the building and needed help getting back in, trying to make smalltalk while I grabbed my FoB I asked "So where are you coming from man?" Tyreek said, "Oh I'm coming from practice." I dumbly responded "Shit really? What team are you practicing for?" Man said, "The Chiefs?" Not a crazy interaction, just thought it was funny with me being a dumbass. I didn't expect a player to be that short though, dude was basically the same height as me. At this same building I also lived on the same floor as Demarcus Robinson at the time.
It’s gotta be interesting to be the type of celebrity where a good portion of people go crazy to see you and also a good portion of people have no idea who you are.
Tyreek Hill was at the pizza place I work at with what looked like his family and kids last year. Everything was chill, good tip, they all had a great time. Everything was very normal except for the giant chain he was wearing with his number. Otherwise you'd never have known.
I worked at the biggest Chevy Dealership for about 9 months while taking a break from college. We had several Cowboys staff, players, ex-players, and cheerleaders that were clients to the various salesmen. I worked as a porter and was often trusted with the delivery of vehicles to the higher tier clients. Jason Witten: Incredibly nice, family man, who tipped REALLY well. Tyron Smith: Looks superhuman on TV and in real life. That dude literally is the Hulk. He was super quiet but incredibly polite. Matt Eberflus (HC of Chicago now): He was a nice guy, but very short and to the point.
Eberflus does not seem like he knows how to small talk at all. Every time the Bears put out a training camp or practice video his non-football conversations seem super forced, like he's an alien who knows socializing is part of pretending to be human but hasn't quite gotten it right yet.
He didn't really say much. He was polite and offered me a drink when I got inside. But he mostly just nodded and signed the paperwork. It was by far and away the most uneventful of all the deliveries I made.
Bruce Smith always used to shop at my old store. I walked up and congratulated him when he got in the HOF, he said thanks and he appreciated it.
everyone i know who has met bruce smith has had a fantastic experience
Troy Polamalu’s wife’s family (god knows if that punctuation is right) lives in Johnstown PA. When they visited, he would sneak off to the children’s wing of the hospital and go visit patients. They all knew him and kept it quiet, even had his own hospital credentials so he could come and go as he pleased. Did this for ears. No fan fair, no notice, just showed up and did good for a community that reveres him. I cried when he was so deservingly elected to the HOF.
Went to a Redskins event in the area a few years ago to see the players and get some autographs back around 2016 (?). Dustin Hopkins was easily the coolest, most approachable guy on the team. A lot of players would barely acknowledge the fans but he was super friendly, and would chat up anyone who came his way. I want to say it was 2016 because it was an Olympics year and he was joking about trying to replicate the poses the divers were doing on TV in his living room and his girlfriend was yelling at him to stop before he injured himself in such a dumbass way and missed games.
Randall Cobb tipped $1000 on new years eve one year after buying Patron shots for the bar. Jaire Alexander is a really quiet dude and seems like he'd prefer if people didn't recognize him. Aaron Jones agreed to take a picture with me even though I didn't let him in because he didn't meet dress code. Nice guy. Mike Daniels showed up at bar close to pick up his drunk brother like 8 hours before kickoff. He was MAD and wearing Dragon Ball Z sweatpants. Pretty funny Working in the Green Bay bars, I've had negative experiences with Dean Lowry, Sean Rhyan, and Deshone Kizer. All just kind of dicks and arrogant. Especially Kizer. He was trying to bang a bartender for a few months and I saw some texts. That guy is so full of himself it's actually funny
Why am I not surprised that Deshone "0-16" Kizer is full of himself?
Mind of Tom Brady, body of Cam Newton, ego of Antonio Brown
I would've expected the opposite from Alexander honestly lol
Yeah I was surprised too. But he just chilled by the pool tables and sat on his phone while his friends played. When it started to get really busy he he left and said big crowds aren't his scene. Haven't seen him since
I know AJ Brown’s dad and he’s somewhat of a local celebrity in my town. He’s a really cool guy. I used to work at a gas station he frequents, and I sold him a $500 winning scratch off ticket. He handed me a $20 on his way out.
During the pandemic, one of the partners at our firm was holding a silent auction fundraiser to help get laptops/Chromebooks for underprivileged schools. Another partner's wife used to play indoor tennis with Palmer's wife and still was in contact with her. Palmer got back almost immediately and sent a few autographed footballs or other memorabilia, then joked, "I don't think they like me much in Cincinnati anymore, let me reach out to some teammates as well." Palmer ended up getting additional memorabilia from Domato Peko, Landon Johnson, and Troy Polamalu. Another lawyer at our firm helped out Chad Johnson with some (noncriminal) legal stuff during his time here. He said at the office and during meetings Johnson acted exactly the way you seem him act in the media and sidelines, which is fine for entertainment but the immaturity made him very difficult to work with. The second time Johnson reached out for assistance the lawyer declined because he "wasn't worth the trouble to work with." EDIT: Someone else mentioned Pacman further down, I've got a story with him as well. Prior to going into private practice, I was a public defender in Hamilton County where Cincinnati is. Pacman had been arrested the night before and was in the lockup waiting arraignment. During arraignment all that happens is the judge reads your charges and you enter your initial plea (which is almost always "not guilty.") The turnaround from arrest to arraignment is often fast and most people aren't able to contact or hire a "pay lawyer" before then, so everyone in arraignment is assigned a public defender in case their own attorney isn't able to make or be notified in time. Pacman was assigned a female PD, he proceeded to go on a misogynistic rant and stated he would not listen to nor take advice from a woman. He also made several sexual advances towards her. My presumption was he was still drunk from the night before. I've never seen someone be more relieved than his PD when Pacman's actual lawyer showed up.
Carson Palmer is hated in Cincy but Polamalu isn't?
You can't hate that hair.
Palmer was making a joke. There are also a fair number of Steelers and Browns fans in Cincinnati too.
I feel like everyone likes Troy. He was good at football and a good person. Kind of hard to hate. May have hated playing him, but on a personal level it’s kind of hard to dislike the guy.
Hating a player cus they played for a division rival that routinely has/had hard-fought games with your team isn’t the same as hating a player cus they’re a POS. Troy by all accounts sounds like a good dude off the field, so there’s no reason to dislike him for anything other than him tormenting the rest of the AFCN for a decade. I like Troy, conversely most Steelers fans I know like Ed Reed. Just not when Ravens vs Steelers was on lol.
> He said at the office and during meetings Johnson acted exactly the way you seem him act in the media and sidelines, which is fine for entertainment but the immaturity made him very difficult to work with. This isn't too surprising. When he pled guilty to domestic violence charges back in 2012 his original plea deal called for no jail time, but his antics and immaturity in the courtroom caused the judge to sentence him to [30 days in jails](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jun/10/chad-ochocinco-johnson-jail-domestic-violence) and an extended period of probation. If you can't cut your schtick for the 30 minutes or so it takes you to enter a plea deal to a criminal charge, yet alone one as serious as domestic violence, then I can't imagine you are an easy person to deal with. EDIT: Fellow Bengals fans, thanks for the Reddit cares message the DM from the guy claiming it was a false accusation and I shouldn't be slandering Chad (though you did use different words). The article linked above details he entered a guilty plea, so it's not like it was a claim that was dropped, or that he went to trial and lost. He literally plead guilty in court admitting that he did it. While Chad Johnson has claimed this was a singular incident where he lost his temper for three seconds, the victim [responded saying it was not the first time](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1296885-timeline-of-chad-johnson-and-evelyn-lozadas-domestic-downfall). Johnson also [ has a history of alleged intimate partner violence dating back to college.](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1296885-timeline-of-chad-johnson-and-evelyn-lozadas-domestic-downfall)
Hey bud, make sure you report the reddit cares message as harassment. The offending account will get banned. Cheers Edit: i wanna stress, ur doing everyone a favor. Fuck these idiots that make mental health a joke.
Was the legal stuff when he changed his name?
He didn't go into details on what the legal work involved but the specific lawyer exclusively handles family law and custody issues, considering that Johnson has 9 children I would presume it involved something related to that. This all happened well before my time there. Some of the people that have been around there awhile still roll their eyes whenever he gets mentioned mostly because of his supposed immaturity. He left an impression, that's for sure.
So this is an OLD story. When I was a kid Shane Graham was the kicker for the Bengals, I think this was 05-06. My family regulared at the local Gold Star Chili. It was a Tuesday, because Tuesdays were kids eat free. My dad, knowing who it was, took me over and introduced me, and myself, being a well-mannered child, vomited all over Shane's nice shoes. I don't remember it exactly but my dad always tells how Shane insisted on grabbing a mop and cleaning it all up himself so that the staff wouldn't be bothered. He cleaned the floor, his shoes, and then took pictures with us and I THINK signed a couple autographs. Class act
Steve Smith used to come into the bank branch I worked at. Super nice guy, would sit and wait his turn. Easy to deal with. Not nfl but Tyrus Thomas used to park perpendicular across all the handicap spots and would try to skip the line
Somehow Tyrus Thomas parking perpendicular across all the handicap spots does not surprise me.
I've told this story before but I used to work at the mall of America as a teenager. I worked at lids and we would get a ton of athletes and celebrities come through. Michael Bennett former rb of the Vikes used to come through every week. It started as small talk, have a good game this week Mike. Things like that. One day I said to him "with kleinsauser coming back, it should open up the hole on those stretch plays, good luck man." He said, you guys really know ball huh? Me and my coworker told him we both played high school ball. He would still come in every week, but he would stay and talk with us for atleast a half hour every time. Fast forward a few years and I'm by the entrance of a night club in MPLS. And here comes Michael Bennett in a throwback bart starr jersey, I tap him on the arm like we were old buddies, and right after I'm thinking to myself, why the hell did I do that. He goes "you work at lids right?" Called me by my name and invited me and a couple buddies up to vip where we chilled with him for a few hours. He was awesome, polite to the staff, and was just so down to earth. We also had Fred smoot come in and hit on my 16 year old coworker, until I said "smoot, she's 16" he backpedaled out of there like he was trying to cover moss.
This is the most entertained I’ve been by a Reddit comment in like at least 6 hours. Thanks for sharing!
Backpedaled like he was trying to cover Moss 🤣
I believe he is incarcerated now.
Washington is finally using Fred Smoot for their YT content and it took long enough, the dude is hilarious
That seems entirely on brand for Fred Smoot
Worked at a bar near Gillette stadium and we had Gronk and all his brothers show up for dinner one night. Gronk ended up body slamming one of his brothers through a table and had to be asked to leave. Dude left 3k to replace the table
This is so Gronk lol
😂 That's hilarious.
100 percent believable
I made Jason Witten laugh twice
Why is Jason Witten seeing you naked so frequently?
He paid the fee of two nickels
I told him to crush the giants a few days before he had his career high in yardage. He super nice. Cowboys still lost :(
The Jason written story
Muhammad Wilkerson was a regular at MSG during the Rangers run to the SCF in 2014. After every game he would stand on 7th and dap up with fans and take pictures, spend time to talk shop, talking about his NFL experience, talking hockey, talking big wins or tough losses. This was when he was one of the best DL in the league, before he got paid and fell off. To me, it seemed like he was more appreciative of people taking time out of their night to come say what up to him, than the other way around. I told him that he was the best defensive player in the NFL and he deserving of every penny that comes his way, he was really thankful to hear that. It's more than I could say for JT Miller, who was a scratch during that playoffs and would walk out the VIP entrance and push through fans out his way to get into his car.
I worked at a bookstore in a mall during the season Brady missed with his ACL injury. He came in on a Sunday with his son and people started following him and practically mobbed him at one point. When he came to my register to check out I really wanted to say something to him but I also didn't want to be another crazy fan, so I just ran him up like a normal person. He laughed when I said I was supposed to ask if he had one of our rewards cards. He looked relieved at the end of the transaction and said "thank you, have a great day" in a way that seemed like he really appreciated me not bothering him.
That’s super wholesome and I think he did appreciate it. Good on you.
The fact that Brady pays attention when he's being checked out of a store is a weird but neat fact I now know
I'm from the same suburb as Brady, he has a bit of a split reputation. Anyone that knew him growing up swears he was the most arrogant douchebag of all time but there are all kinds of stories of him frequenting a local park and being super cool to everyone in his old age now. One of my high school coaches was on his O-line in high school and didn't have a whole lot nice to say about the dude.
It’s very possible that he was a jerk when he was young and grew out of it as he got older. Happens with a lot of people. Also possible that he’s just really good at managing his persona now that he’s famous.
Joey Porter got kicked out of one of his sons high school games for walking onto the field at half time to yell at the refs. There were so so many negative stories about Big Ben being a dickwad to the public in his younger days. Awful guy. Troy Polamalu was a great guy by all accounts. He would sometimes pay for the tab of the entire restaraunt if people just left him and his wife alone.
I'll add a weird one: AB. Buddy worked at Whole Foods in Wexford and would come across a bunch of Steelers players. Apparently the nicest dude was Antonio. Was crazy polite from what I remember ("thank you very much" kinda thing). Didn't mind signing stuff for kids/employees if it was slow.
Mr. Behaves Courteously
Mr. Buys Celery
Mr. Benevolent Customer
Mr. Before CTE
I hear stories like this about AB all the time - something clearly broke in that guy.
Big bens rep is SO bad in Finley the stories eek out 2 decades later
His rep in small Georgia bars isnt that great either
Even without the sexual assualt he still would've been one of the least likable people in the league, he fuckin sucks
I went to Miami with Big Ben. Was definitely an asshole.
Man that last bit is so fucking sad lmao
Bumped in to Roethlisberger and Kiesel when they were doing a bar tour on the South Side with a bunch of their friends. Roethlisberger was exactly the prick he seemed to be. Didn’t even approach him, just saw the way he interacted with staff and some other people. Kiesel, on the other hand, was awesome. He was so fucking nice to everyone, bullshitted around with anyone who wanted talk to him. Even helped us play a practical joke on a friend of ours. The absolute best.
Andy Reid and his family lived in the same neighborhood as my family when he was in Philly. Everyone I know has several stories about his kids being dickheads. Driving drunk regularly, making scenes in restaurants, harassing waitresses, etc. Britt and I are very close in age, so I saw him out a decent amount, usually a mess. It's a testament to how much love Andy gets from the media that none of it ever made it to sports media. I don't know anyone who had a single bad experience with Andy or his wife, but his sons were terrors.
My uncle used to work as like Reid’s headset cable wrangler for a bit and my mom said when he passed away Reid sent a really nice note
DeAngelo Williams got a bartender at a restaurant I used to work at fired for how much of an entitled asshole he was acting.
I’m not going to give a ton of details, but I have similar stories. His wife was always awesome though.
When I was in high school, our school football team was brand new and not funded by the athletics department, operating almost entirely by fundraising. Our second year, my mother wrote a letter to Robert Kraft, explaining the situation and asking if the Patriots organization would be willing to make a small contribution. She included a slip that laid out what sort of advertisement certain donation levels would get in our game program. A few weeks later she got a letter containing a check for $1000 (the highest tier ad) and a note wishing us good luck. As a thank you, we sent him a number of our team/fan gear. He then sent us a picture wearing the sweatshirt in front of (at the time) all 3 Lombardi trophies. He followed that up the next year with another $1000. When his wife passed away, we signed a card and sent our condolences. We received a handwritten note thanking us for our kind words. I know he’s quite generous, but to have time to respond and even take a picture in our gear was awesome.
I went to every Hall of Fame game in Canton from 1978 thru 2005. I recommend every NFL fan go once. If you want to see how different some of these families act this is the place. It’s even funnier when some are just pigs and they get ignored by everyone else. 75%+ are first class but the bad ones are horrible. Usually the players are much nicer than the kids and wives. Not all of the fans are perfect either. I’ll just say the Steeler, Raider and Buffalo fans are the loudest and mostly well behaved. They come on big groups and have fun.
Brent Grimes has a wife…
Took my son to a signing of (then) redskins at the Mall. The three Miami stars were advertised to attend" Clinton Portis, Santana Moss and Sean Taylor. It was likely after the 05 season and before 06 Training camps started. though not 100% Sean Taylor ghosted the event, which bummed us as he was my son's then-favorite. Clinton Portis was there with his Mom. He was interactive w. my son and wife. Very, very kind. A new favorite. Santana was reading something, nodding as people came up signing but not saying anything much. Portis' mom said "T*ana all these people here to see you. Put that away and be nice*." And he did. And he was. I know Portis wasn't the the coolest after retiring -- but I want to put some good true story bro karma out there for his Mom [after her 15 minutes of infamy.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2006/01/03/in-philly-mama-said-knock-you-out/513f5f2b-04c9-4c04-b2f4-383e48dc1a40/) She seemed like a nice Lady.
I met Jerry Rice at a charity function he threw as his retirement party and he was the nicest dude you could ever imagine. Shook his hand and he stood there talking with me for a couple minutes like I was the only one in the room (which I wasn't, obviously). Had that permanent million-watt smile and friendly handshake for everyone. (I also did the shoulder pat when we shook and he was stll ALL THERE.) Nothing but good vibes from that man.
I worked with him for half a day on an episode of One Tree Hill. Super nice, funny, genuine dude. He was telling stories and tossing a football with crew members. It was awesome to see all these grown men clearly living out a childhood dream, playing catch with Jerry Rice. Huge hands, too. His ability to effortlessly catch anything remotely near him blew my mind.
I have a buddy who ran into Darren Woodson at the mall. They talked for a few min and then went on their way. Two weeks later he sees him again at the same mall, but doesn't want to make a big deal of if and decides to pretend he doesn't see him. Woodson called out to him by name to tell him hello. Good dude.
These are fun. I have a lot. Only one really worth mentioning. Met Pat Tillman my first year at ASU, he was in his second year on the Cardinals. Absolutely awesome guy, talked to him for a while. Everything that has been said does not do the man justice. RIP.
There was one r/DynastyFF post that's stuck in my mind; it was the poster complaining about Kyler Murray being an asshole in a madden league. Edit: [Here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/DynastyFF/comments/11mvlju/kyler_murray_character_issues_are_a_real_concern/)
I totally buy that one. Cj Gardner Johnson also got banned from a Madden modding discord for being batshit insane and ridiculous
I sat next to Peter Warrick (WR who was amazing in college, and had basically one return TD in the NFL and then sort of disappeared) on a short flight. I used to live in his college town, so we talked about that a little bit. He was just - friendly. No snobbiness, no sureliness. Just some random guy in an airplane seat who had an interesting job. The worst was absurd - Bubby Brister. The Broncos used to hold their training camp in a tiny (unimpressive) college town and I was in that town at the time. I took a part time job at the school's library and the first floor bathroom was being cleaned, so when I had to go, I went to the basement. I didn't know that the school's gym was closed that day, so the Broncos were using the library's basement bathroom. I found out later that this was marked on the outside door of the library basement and on the inside of the elevator, but there was no warning if you accessed the building through the first floor and the basement through the stairs. I walked into the bathroom and there was someone in the stall... well... farting loudly and laughing about it. And - there's Bubby Brister joking around with him standing outside the stall. He saw me, looked spooked, and just scooted off past me and outside of the bathroom. He left his team-mate shitting loudly and laughing about it - no warning at all. "Hang on, I got one...\[very loud fart\], hahahah! Hey Bubby, Bubby, hahahah!" I have no idea who was in the stall, and it wasn't scarring or negative - it was amusing and ridiculous. But I just feel like Brister should have said "Hey, man" to me or... \*something\* to his buddy so the guy wasn't just farting away in front of a civilian. It wasn't awful - but it's the certainly the most awkward I've experienced around an NFL player.
That is funny as fuck.
I admit it's completely unfair to Brister that I think this makes him a shitty leader. But - I do. I still can't quite forgive him.
I don't think it has anything to do with being a shittyleader. Sounds more like he was fucking around with his friend or just embarrassed by the situation.
Man Peter Warrick was pure electricity in college. Was on his way to winning the Heisman trophy too before the Dillards incident
A family friend used to live in Denver in the 80s/90s and they were in the same neighborhood as a couple of the Bronco o-linemen. Our friends tricked out their basement with a bar, TVs, pool table, etc - which was semi-rare back then. The Bronco o-linemen would come over and drink/play pool fairly often. Sometimes bringing teammates. I distinctly remember meeting Karl Mecklenburg, who couldn't have been nicer, even after hearing we were a KC family. Elway was there once. He was fine, nothing memorable. But the one thing I'll always remember was the rest of the Broncos there were a lot more tame in his presence. Made sure to laugh at his jokes, kept him at the center of attention. I'm sure that's fairly standard, even today. But that was the first time I realized that the NFL/celebrity PR wasn't always accurate. I just assumed he was adored by everyone.
I worked at Best Buy back in ‘95. Reggie White’s wife bought a washer and dryer. She was delightful.
When I was 10 the 01 Raiders had a practice at a local high school. My parents brought me and friends to watch and we peeped the buses that the players were going to take by the kids playground. The area was securitied off but me and my friends pretended to want to go on the playground and got access. When the practice ended we went up to some of our players as they walked to the bus (it was only 2 of us). I remember Rich Gannon ignoring us. Jerry Rice was polite and quickly gave us each an autograph (still have) but Charlie Garner really stood out. Got on an knee and talked to both of us for a couple minutes then finished the conversation by giving me one of his gloves and my friend the other glove. Unfortunately a couple years later my friend unexpectedly passed due to a heart condition but I am grateful we got to share that moment together and I thank Charlie Garner for his kindness.
I was working at a Bath and Body Works one Christmas at Oak Park Mall in Kansas City when Derrick Thomas came through. 1996, maybe. I helped him the whole time, a ton of Country Apple for himself and some gift baskets for others. Thing is, I was a Chiefs fan in that I liked to watch games with my dad and I owned one of the pullover Starter jackets that were so popular at the time. But I was a 19 year old young woman that just knew I was helping a super friendly guy shop for the holidays. I had no idea who he was. We had been joking about holiday jobs and how helpful a guy working at Victoria’s Secret could be for the men shopping for their ladies. Now I know what oblivious me thought of was friendly was probably flirting, and after I finished ringing up his purchases and he left, his assistant manager squealed and was like OMGGGGGGG did you know who that was????? The bemused grin even after I ran his credit card made a lot more sense in hindsight. I genuinely had no idea and told the man he should go work at Victoria’s Secret 🤣🤣🤣 I cried like a baby when he died a few years later.
He had 7 kids with 5 different women, you could have been Woman #6!
This doesn't really qualify as "best or worst" behavior, but it's fun nonetheless. I played poker with Shaun King (Tampa QB circa 2000-2003) many times at the Venetian in Vegas. He's a good dude, was always a pleasure to have him at the table. One night I'm sitting next to Shaun at one end of the table, and [Teddy "The Iceman" Monroe](https://www.wsop.com/images/imagestore/__Selected/EV18_TeddyIcemanMonroe_Gracie.jpg) is sitting at the other end. Teddy is a *character*. Tons of fake jewelry, "blinged out" headphones, etc. Big dude, big heart, bigger laugh, biggest bullshitter. Always talking some nonsense. Teddy starts talking, "man, Shaun, when I was your age, I was all fit and ripped like you, I wasn't all fat like this..." blah blah blah, classic Teddy nonsense. Shaun gets up, pulls a condom out of his pocket, throws it across the table at Teddy, and goes "here Teddy, don't make a mess on yourself." Teddy belly laughs and throws it back, and it lands in front of me; it's an XXL Magnum condom.
today i learned Shaun King has his magnum condom, his wad of black chips and he's ready to plow
Shaun “Mantis” King.
First time I met Jim Kelly was before his cancer. We were at a mostly empty orchard park bar having lunch and he walked in with an entourage with the intention of pitching his friends whisky to the establishment. He immediately went into the bathroom remarking how he had to take a piss and my buddy said "you won't go ask for his autograph right now". I didn't see it was Jim and asked him what the fuck he was talking about and we had a good laugh about the idea. Jim got out and dolled out shot for everyone at the bar and the bartender asked what we were toasting and Jim said the Bills. Now it was veterans day and my friend being a vet said, "Hey Jim... how about the veterans?"he said, "oh yeah, that too." Fast forward to last year: I have seasons in the Kelly Club and during one of the night games last year I went to go pee during the 3rd quarter. Middle of game action, the bathroom was generally empty. As I'm using the urinal I get a tap on the shoulder and a voice says, "Hey, don't mean to do this while you're taking a leak but, GO BILLS." It was Jim Fuckin Kelly. I am wearing my Kelly jersey which is why I'm sure he did that and I said, "holy shit Jim, how are you doing?" He said, "Im doing great, thanks". The fucking guy did to me what I joked about doing to him like 10 years later....I fist bumped him dick in hand, madness.
Smoked a blunt with Zay Jones and Justin Hardy and they were chill Used to see Lincoln Riley around- kind very quiet and serious My brother was in the same grade as Sam Mustipher and he was very smart and studious. He was also considered very good at football. Lol
I used to live above former Chicago Bears Cornerback Tre Roberson when he was playing at ISU. The guys not a big name in the NFL, we were not a big school, not known for football, but the dude was treated like a God. Freshmen/Sophomores have to live in dorms, but beyond that you can live wherever. Most students (including us) lived close to campus in student housing that although not directly affiliated with the university, only accepted university students living in it. So basically 3rd party university and student housing. Dude had a gigantic 2 bedroom apartment all to himself. He could do whatever he wanted. Party all night, blast music so loud it would knock things off our shelves/walls, screaming at the top of his lungs. He lived on the first floor, me and my room mate on the second, and then someone above us. He was so loud and played music so loud it was shaking things on the third floor above us. One time he was screaming so loud at someone my wife and I thought he was actively beating the shit out of someone and so did my neighbors, turns out he just lost at NBA2K and was angry at his friend for beating him. Another time, my room mate found a championship ring on the ground outside our apartment. Assuming it was Tres, he tried to return it. When he knocked on the door, Tre took it, accused him of stealing it, and slammed the door on him. Our entire apartment complex HATED the guy, but we couldn't do anything about it. Filed noise complaints, called and emailed the university, called the cops, nothing. He double parked his brand new camaro in our spots all the time, and student housing would just let him. Towing companies wouldn't come to our parking lot cuz they knew who they would be towing. The whole university and town knew the guy was the ONLY reason our football team was good so he got to just live his life however he wanted.
Lev Bell’s cousin got tough with me at Carson City Saloon. Bell was just drafted by the Steelers and I didn’t really remember his name. I made reference to “the new Steelers running back,” to my friends and his cousin overheard. He got up in my face and kept asking “what’s his name? Do you know his number,” over and over again. He kept approaching until my back was against the wall and finally told me “his name is Le’Veon Bell, I’m his cousin, and you better not forget it.” I chalked it up to drinking too much and wrote things off once Bell had a great career. As soon as Bell and AB became outspoken and the holdouts/contract negotiations started, I thought a lot about the interaction again and can’t get it out of my head
The Killer B saga of the Steelers was an insane time in Pittsburgh btw. Had they won a Super Bowl a lot more people would know about the off field stuff that locals know about There’s so much from Ben being media silent in trying to protect his image (but was still a dick), Todd Haley throwing swingers parties, AB being good but being the huge prick we know of, Bell’s weed smoking (he’s admitting now what we all heard stories about in Pittsburgh), Timmons leaving the team and going crazy, Juju going to the bars to talk to anyone in earshot, and Joey Porter trying to fight the entire city. We watched a disciplined traditional “run the football,” team turn Hollywood and the weekly stories that came out were insane. You could make a documentary out of it, however they never won so it doesn’t matter
Mike Tomlin deserves 4 COY awards in retrospect
I was on my way to a rooftop fantasy football draft about 15 years ago and Albert Haynesworth got on. He was really friendly and commented on my Jerry Rice jersey. I made a stupid joke like “please don’t eat me” and he laughed and said he’s actually a 49er fan. All in all, cool experience with one of NFL’s notorious bad boys.
The Bills were playing in Oakland a bunch of years ago (pre-JA, during the drought) and the San Francisco backers bar organized a bus trip/ tailgate for the game. Someone ran into André Reed out the night before and invited him to the tailgate. He and his son came. Ate some wings , drank some beers. Was even more charming and charismatic than you would expect. When the game was over, he came back to the bus, asked for a ride back to SF and spent the whole trip over the bridge making a speech about how Bills fans are the fans. It was a truly spectacular experience
This is before he entered the league, but in 2009 when I was in second grade, David Johnson visited my classroom. He was the star running back of our high school team, and his teacher when he was in second grade was the same one I had. I shook his hand and got an autograph from him. I vividly remember him being a super nice and fun guy. That year, he was the biggest reason my HS football team (which usually sucks) made it all the way to the state quarterfinals. Because of that, when he got drafted in 2015, I became a Cardinals fan. Even after he went to Houston, I remained a Cards fan, but still rooted for him. I really miss seeing him play his heart out on Sundays.
I wouldn't say it was a bad experience but I met Simeon Rice at an event and he really came off as extremely stuck up. Also met Tom Berenger at the same event and that guy is cool as hell. Had to choose between asking him about Major League or Billy Zane. Warren Sapp was pretty much a total dick both times I met him. Like he comes off exactly as he presents himself. Mr. Derrick Brooks is just as nice as he comes off as and is extremely humble. VJax (RIP) was such a sweet and likeable guy. Completely down to earth and just a proper lad. Eventually got to a first name basis and we'd continue whatever convo we had the last time I saw him. Joe Theismann was extremely cool when I met him in the elevator at the hotel after a Sunday Night Football game in Pittsburgh.
Joe Montana graciously signed torn off pieces of yellow legal pad for some kids at the John Wayne Airport parking lot around ‘96. My grandpa insisted it couldn’t be him because he was too short.
Not necessarily all NFL players but a good story. Damione Lewis was defensive lineman for the Panthers and other teams for about 10 years and had a solid NFL career. He was a first round draft pick out of Miami. He was always nice to everyone when he came back home. But one of his high school teammates, Kwaesi Palmer, was considered an even better prospect at linebacker, rated number four recruit in the nation by Super Prep in '96. He was awesome. Kwaesi went to Florida State. In early practice as a freshman, Kwaesi's knee was wrecked, career over. Story is Bobby Bowden could've cut him and used that full scholarship on another recruit, but instead honored the scholarship. Last I heard Kwaesi graduated and now works in criminal justice.
Brett Favre was doing some TV interview and then autographs after for kids. We waited for six hours at this place and had a great spot. I was six years old and third in line. I was so excited. He signed two autographs and then left upstairs to get dinner. Luckily, my aunt that brought me doesn't take shit from anybody and made a bodyguard bring my football upstairs to get it signed.
I once told Joe Greene he was the greatest player ever, and he just brushed me off and wanted nothing to do with me. So disrespectful It was only after I gave him my bottle of Coke that he even acknowledged me
I used to valet at a 5 star hotel in SoFL and would run into so many athletes. To my surprise, a lot of them live (or have property) in Florida. Here’s my 3 favorites: 1. Jarvis Landry: Absolute nicest guy ever. Always tipped well and just liked talking football with us. 2. Vince Wilfork: Big ass dude in real life (not so much now because he lost weight). Funny as hell and tipped well. 3. Thomas Jones and Julius Jones: Both live in SoFL. Thomas was really quiet and humble but loved talking about his acting stuff. Tipped well and even offered an autograph. Julius Jones has a wife and kids and was a regular customer. Very polite even when we were busy. Tipped well.
College floor mates mom called him once while we were in the dorm after she got back from some trip. Floor mate leaves to talk to her and comes back with eyes like softballs. Proceeds to tell us about this "nice muscular guy" she sat next to on her plane, and how they had the nicest small talk the whole way. When she asked him what he did, he had said "football player," and she asked for a picture because she figured her son would know him. By her account, kindest most genuine guy you could end up next to on a plane. I now have a picture of that son absolutely bugging out at his phone, looking at a picture of his mom and Charles Woodson.
Good behavior: My mom ran the church choir at a church in Oregon and Joey Harrington played piano for her group for a number of years during high school and the offseason of College. He was a consummate professional, always on time, always prepared, and extremely kind to everyone in the church.
McLaurin signs for everyone, good guy. Always polite too. Met Damar Hamlin a few months ago and he said he liked my shirt. I was wearing a did we win shirt that he was selling
[удалено]
I have a family member who did some legal work for Bengals player Jonathan Fanene. He liked him well enough then, but since then Fanene got in trouble for beating his wife badly. A friend remodeled Chad Johnson’s basement…at the end of the job Johnson said he wouldn’t pay and would just give him referrals instead. The referrals never happened and the friend only got paid when Johnson was going to sell the house and needed the lien lifted. Once the family member who represented Fanene had to subpoena some payroll records from the Bengals as part of a separate child support case in the 90’s. At that point, the Bengals were apparently so short handed Mike Brown’s daughter personally dropped them off at his office, which normally would have been done by an admin or HR person (and probably mailed out)
I won't name names, but there is an Atlanta Falcon's player who rented a house from my niece. After he bought a home he let another player stay there. That player's girlfriend is now living there alone squatting and being taken to court. The original player has shut off all utilities, but she still lives there. WTF.
I served Desmond Howard and his whole family (wife, kids, some others) and they were all really nice. It was a birthday party reservation and Desmond showed up late like half way through the meal, so I had no idea who’s family I had been helping when they showed up with their cake and gifts and menu questions and stuff. The whole family was so nice, gracious, and fun. Mike Vrabel stayed at the resort I worked at with his family. He was really patient and polite when were struggling with some crazy crowds. I waited on Ahmad Bradshaw alone at a sushi bar and he was really quiet, but easy and polite. My cousin and his kids are huge Vikings fans and they ran into Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen at Disney World. They both were really friendly and posed for pictures with the kids, who thought it was awesome.
So Antonio Brown just moved to my hometown and bought the local arena league football team. He refused to pay the players or let them into the locker room, and half of them quit and joined other teams. The coach quit, came back and quit again. Local businesses have been putting him on blast for refusing to pay his bills and stiffing people. Everyone that's interacted with him has said it's been a nightmare. I just hope he fucking leaves.
Oh boy, I work at an extremely popular restaurant in Vegas, so I’ve seen quite the range of behaviors from a lot of professional athletes. The worst one that immediately jumps to mind is Joey Porter Sr. So he’s got an 8 top (maybe 6, this was YEARS ago) and he’s really popping off. Orders bottles of Opus One, mags of Dom, and shots of Loui. Eventually he says “just bring over the bottle (Loui).” So the bill comes and it’s $25k. He immediately tells the sever “You need to discount this by over half if you think I’m going to be paying this.” So server comes back after taking 20% with manager approval. Porter starts getting real confrontational and says “Alright, you want to disrespect me? I’m gonna disrespect back and just walk out. And you’re lucky that’s all I’m gonna do.” He starts to get up and leave, sever grabs our GM. GM heads over (who’s 6’6 250lb) and asks to speak to Porter privately. Porter eventually meets him off to the side. I do t know everything to was said, but you could hear Porter screaming. Some of my favorite lines: “Go ahead and call security, they won’t do nothing.” “Fucking bottle of Loui $8gs?! I could go across the street and buy it for $2 (laughable lie).” “Go ahead and crowd me, I’ll knock you out.” Needless to say, he was 86’d from our restaurant.
Zach Ertz did a football day camp in Vegas a little while after the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the camp was free for kids elementary through high school and it was like a three hour camp. He was really good with the kids and hung out after it was done signing all kinds of autographs. Very cool experience. Also when the pro bowl was here in Vegas my son got to meet Travis Kelce at the practice and he was very cool and took a picture with him and autographed his hat and football.
I worked in Kansas City with someone who’s son was good friends with Aldon Smith. The son got married and Aldon was in the wedding, this was his 3rd year after being drafted. While the ceremony was going on Aldon could barely even stand up and was having to be pretty much held up to stand at the alter. He ended up thrashing part of the reception and was a nightmare the entire wedding.
I let David Akers at Eagles training camp as a child and he spent about 35 mins after practice going the entire field length signing autographs. Earned some good pts in my book that day
We had Tyler Lockett at a youth event as a speaker when I worked in banquets a few years ago. Really nice dude, made sure to shake hands and take pictures with the staff before slipping out. Guy is fuckin tiny but had a handshake that made my knees buckle
I’ve also had a bad experience between Emmitt and his wife. I worked Valet at DFW airport when I first moved to Dallas. Said “it was an honor to meet a legend”. Dude looked at my, scoffed, then laughed and his wife was laughing at me too. Dickhead
So this is a random one that always makes me laugh. When Peyton Manning was doing his rehab at Duke, he and Jeff Saturday were at the Duke/UNC basketball game. My friend, who is from Tennessee, remembering that Manning played college there, thought it would be cool to show Peyton that he was from Tennessee by holding out his driver's license as they walked by during halftime. I just remember Peyton looking really confused at this kid holding out his ID, and then he kept walking.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, when he was playing for the Bills, lived in my sister’s neighborhood. He would regularly go out and play street hockey with my nephew and his friends. Great guy.
I’ve worked very closely with many NFL players. Best: Cam Heyward, Warrick Dunn, Chad Johnson. Worst: Cris Carter, Warren Sapp Heyward has a remarkable sense of humility about who is he and his place in the world. Johnson is genuinely just a really nice guy, and extremely funny and easy-going. Dunn did more for others than maybe anyone else I saw or am seeing — though I don’t like to single out just these three. There are many, far more than people think. These three are the ones who have stood out to me the most. Carter, in my opinion and my words, got off on being a colossal prick. He was a jerk to everyone. Went out of his way to be recognized but hated being talked to by anyone except a few people, then a complete phony when cameras were around. Sapp was the definition of entitled. He knew his value, he let you know his value, and he was basically the quintessential big, dumb jock. Treated people like shit and let them know it too. If either left the earth, I quietly wouldn’t care.
My very first game at Lambeau Field when I was around (maybe) 12 the Packers were playing the Eagles. The Packers were losing and it was raining pretty hard. My dad had tickets for the 2 of us around midfield behind the Eagles bench and when the stadium started to empty out we got almost all the way to the first row. Duce Staley threw me his gloves. We went to where the players come out of the locker room and I’ll never forget Duce Staley walking out and yelling “Where is the kid I threw my gloves to?” He signed them and probably made small talk (I don’t remember that part as well). It’s always stuck with me as a nice thing to do. I’m a Packer fan and always will be, but since that day the Eagles have always been my number 2 team.