A Story: A Day to Remember, A Good Friday Indeed

Any day would be good when you randomly get to hang out for a few hours privately with one of the players whose sports cards you collect...

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A great thing about blogging is that once you post something, it is there forever to go back to.  I had no intentions of posting this today, but the events of yesterday afternoon have warranted it and then some.  The point of this post is two-fold; for you to read and for me to document and remember the details of the day.

What the hell am I talking about?  I'll get there. Yesterday I left work early considering no one else was really there, due to it being a holiday of sorts.  I had a few errands to run close to work, and they were in the same shopping center as my local card shop (how convenient!).  My plan was always to go to the card store though.  I had nothing in mind as to what I wanted to pick up, but at the very least I could look through boxes of cards for fun to see what they had.   They wound up having nothing I wanted, but that's no matter; this post isn't about baseball cards anyway.

This store is not huge, nor would I consider it small.  It's average in size.  It's filled with sports memorabilia like framed pictures, signed balls, a card showcase, Ravens and Orioles novelty items, etc.  But today when I looked toward the back of the store I saw tons of full sized football helmets stacked on top of the boxes they came in. 

There were no other customers in the store besides me, and the woman at the register walked back towards where I was and was just kind of wandering around. I looked up and said, "is there a signing today?"  She said, "yes, but it's private."  I just played it cool, and said, "oh, ok."  Then a minute later, as I'm thumbing mindlessly through cards, I casually ask her, half already knowing because of the University of Delaware and Ravens helmets displayed, "Do you mind if I ask who it is?" 

She looks up and says, "Joe Flacco."  Whoa. 

So then I asked if it was ok that I was in there (knowing full well it was, but just feeling out the situation), and she said oh yeah, you just can't go back there, pointing to a back room closed door where he was.  A few other employees came out from the back and I asked a few questions, like is he there with a bunch of handlers?  How many things is he signing (around 400)? Stuff like that.  I was trying to get as much information as I could.  I mean, I was in the same store as Joe Flacco, my favorite football player, the only focus of my football collecting, and the only player I own a jersey of.  What are the odds? 

You miss 100% of the opportunities you don't take, right?

I found out he was there with his agent and his dad.  That's it.  So I stayed for awhile and continued half paying attention to cards, making small talk with some of the employees there, etc. All the while I am still pretty much the only customer in the store.  Remember, this was a private signing, not open to the public.  Then all of a sudden the back door opened, and out walked Joe Flacco, his dad, and his agent.  Gulp.

Joe is tall, and very young looking, and he was wearing sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt. That was my first impression.  Thought number two was holy crap Joe Flacco is mere feet away from me.  Thought number three was simply, stay cool, and don't be annoying.  That's exactly what I did.

I just stayed there thumbing through cards, not even knowing what the hell I was looking at, and not caring either.  Joe was feet away signing helmets.  Then his dad came over near where I was.  This was my chance.

I looked up, still looking at cards and playing it cool, and I started out by casually mentioning how I saw his son play baseball last year.  Yes, baseball. Joe's brother Michael plays for the Aberdeen Ironbirds in A ball.  That started what turned out to be about a ten minute conversation about baseball, football, baseball cards, University of Delaware stuff, talk of Jersey and Philly, the weather, etc.  We had some things in common.  I then told him how it was sheer chance that I just stopped in the card shop today and this was happening.  Our conversation ended and he walked back near where Joe was.  I stayed there pretending to look through cards.

Some of the employees left, to the point where there were only two or so remaining.  Joe stood up and started signing more helmets (there were tons).  We exchanged hellos, I (calmly, of course) told him how big of a fan I was, etc.  I inched closer to the back of the store and just watched.  I turned to his dad and said, I'm not too close, am I?  He's said no, not at all.  I asked if it was ok to take a picture and he said sure, and that I could get one with Joe too, and also, what did I want signed?  I told him I didn't have anything, but I'd buy something to be signed if I had to.  At this point I felt like I hit the lottery.

While he was signing the helmets Joe, his dad, his agent, and myself just chatted.  It was like chatting with friends.  Joe is extremely non-egotistical and humble (one reason I collect him, and the other players I collect too), a very down to earth guy.  Totally unassuming.  We chatted about lots of things, I told him I collect him (he said that was cool, and thanks), we talked about football, baseball (his brother's baseball cards), the crappy weather, the University of Delaware, the Eagles, and how I became a Ravens fan because of him, and other random stuff. This lasted around an hour. You'd never know this guy was a superstar football player, he was so down to earth.

Joe sat down and started signing a whole stack of 8x10s, and 11x14s.  His dad went over to help him sort the pictures, and this took around ten minutes or so. I just stood and watched, keeping to myself, so as not to not impose.

Several mintues later when he was finished with the big stack of pictures Joe stood up, turned to me, and said, do you want a picture? Of course I did, so his dad took a picture of Joe and I with my iPhone.  Joe towers over me, so it was kind of funny. After that his dad said, come over here, which one of these do you like best?  He was giving me a choice of one of three 8x10s that Joe had just signed.  I picked this one:

I offered him money for it but of course he declined.  It'll look great in a frame.

They were done signing, and it was time for me to go, so I thanked Joe's dad profusely and I thanked Joe too, shook Joe's hand, his dad's and wished them well.  I told him I appreciated his time and I didn't mean to come off as one of those annoying fans.  I just wanted him to know that I "get it."  He laughed and said nah, that wasn't the case. We exchanged Happy Easters.  I told his dad that perhaps I'd see him at a game sometime, and he said if you do, be sure to say hello.  Wow, what a nice guy.

Before I walked out of the store, I made sure to buy a few packs of cards--I don't even know what I picked up, and I thanked the lady at the register for being so cool and letting me hang out with Joe while he was doing a private signing.  I could tell she was a bit uncomfortable, this wasn't something that was really allowed--and I felt a little bad about that, but honestly when else would I have had this chance?  To hang out one on one with a quarterback who happens to be my favorite NFL player?  I had to do it.  It was sheer luck that I even had the opportunity. 

I walked out into the parking lot in a daze, but on cloud 9.  Did that really just happen? I mean, did that REALLY just happen?  It still seems amazing to me, but it did.  I have a renewed focus for my Flacco player collection now.  You'll never hear me say I don't collect football cards again, or at least Joe Flacco cards. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this experience, and I'm incredibly appreciative to Joe and his dad for their kindness.  Yeah, that really happened.  I have to keep reminding myself of that by looking at the pictures.

Neat story for a Good Friday, huh?