Personally Know Anyone in the League?

[blacksheep]

Back in '94, one of the colleges in a town I was a police officer in had a fundraiser and they hired a bunch of us for off-duty security. They invited Roger Staubach, Johnny U., Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett and Walter Payton. Got to shake hands with all of them and get a group picture of them all, which hangs above my desk still. Talked a bit with Ditka and that guy is all class. Real personable and he let me try on his '85 Super Bowl ring. The guy has hands the size of a baseball glove! The only regret I have is not buying a Bear helmet in an auction that was signed by both Payton and Ditka. I still kick myself considering Payton is my all-time favorite player.

[stk119]

When I was like 8 I lived accross the street from JJ Flannery he played at Syracuse in college then in the NFL 1991 to 1998 for the Houston Oilers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the St. Louis Rams. I emember him lifting in his driveway and then getting a bunch of houston oiler stuff when he got drafted.

At Penn State me and my cousin got caught by Lavar Arrington trying to sneak into a PSU Football party by telling them I was the 2nd string punter.

[Steelersfan]

When I was like 8 I lived accross the street from JJ Flannery he played at Syracuse in college then in the NFL 1991 to 1998 for the Houston Oilers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the St. Louis Rams. I emember him lifting in his driveway and then getting a bunch of houston oiler stuff when he got drafted.

At Penn State me and my cousin got caught by Lavar Arrington trying to sneak into a PSU Football party by telling them I was the 2nd string punter.

[Jimi Hendrix]

I'm not best buds with any of these guys but I work the team meals for Wake Forest football as a banquet captain and have gotten to know guys like OL-Joe Looney who was drafted this year by San Fran, wr-Givens who was drafted by STL. and lb- Wilbur drafted by Cowboys this year and Curry a couple of years ago

[Captainzach1]

Andy Muse was going door to door for his church the other night and came by my house. His brother is Mike Muse, who was an assistant basketball coach at Wake Forest when Skip Prosser was there. It's not NFL but it's close maybe?

[Captainzach1]

Oh and my neighbor's good friend coached Adrian Wilson in high school at high point andrews high school. Again close enough?

Angelo Crowell went to the high school that I currently work at in Winston Salem.

[Captainzach1]

I'm not best buds with any of these guys but I work the team meals for Wake Forest football as a banquet captain and have gotten to know guys like OL-Joe Looney who was drafted this year by San Fran, wr-Givens who was drafted by STL. and lb- Wilbur drafted by Cowboys this year and Curry a couple of years ago

One of my friends that I work with, his mom has an office in Deacon Tower, not sure about your connection with WF.

[jefeberan]

This is a cool thread...

Direct NFL connections:
- Played pick-up basketball a bunch of times against Nick Foles. We're both 6'5", about 250, so we guarded each other every time. He was the better athlete. I was the better basketball player.
- Took a class with former Giants safety Michael Johnson and worked on a couple of group projects with him. Not the sharpest tool in the shed but a really nice guy. He got a Super Bowl ring in his rookie year as a STARTER against the undefeated Patriots. Not quite sure why he's out of the league now.
- Coming out of HS, I turned down a scholarship to play football at USD. Had I taken it, my coach would have been fired during my hypothetical freshmen season and then replaced by Jim Harbaugh. I could have played for Jim Freakin' Harbaugh. Sigh...c'est la vie, I guess.

One degree of separation:
- My brother-in-law is from Lima, OH and played in HS against Ben Rapelsberger.
- My aunt went to HS with Merril Hoge.
- A good friend of mine is Tedy Bruschi's cousin.

Other sports connections:
- Current Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen was a buddy of mine in HS.
- Went to HS with 2012 PGA US Open runner-up Michael Thompson.

[Amoo]

Back in high school I played against Jake Long. He played for Lapeer East and I for Linden. I played on the D Line and we clashed heads on plenty of occasions. I've always thought it was cool that I played directly against the 1st overall pick back in high school. That's me directly below him on the defensive team in the link.

http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ve ... 79A3BDA420

[Puchicas]

I went to middle school and high school and played football and baseball with NFL 1st Round Bust Leodis McKelvin. He was always a nice guy, but I really only considered him an above-average athlete compared to some of the other guys I played with. I know he blossomed at Troy, and drew a lot of attention in his last season there.

When I was in 10th grade, I was a back-up OL (played all 5 spots), weighing about 180. We were playing on the road in Valdosta and our starting tackle got hurt. Our offensive line coach looked dead at me and said "Get in there!" Then, immediately, he must have seen fear in my eyes, because he said "nevermind" and sent in an 11th grader. The guy I would have had to block? Jay Ratliff.

But at the time, I don't think it would've been as bad as having to block Gerald Anderson (UGA) and Donnie Carter (FSU) on the scout team every day. After that season, I decided to "focus on baseball".

[jlasaf2007]

A friend of mine at work lived next door to J.J. Watt's family before moving down to Indiana. Their families are still good friends and keep in contact (I believe they went to the Texans/Colts game together this year), and he hears some stories about the personalities of some of the big-name guys in the league.

Tony Dungy was speaking at a Youth For Christ event in Ft. Wayne, IN. He donates his time, and the organizers of the event didn't think it right to make him pay for his own airfare. Long story short, my father-in-law donated the services of his company's jet to transport Mr. Dungy back and forth. My brother-in-law escourted him (about 2 hour legs each way), and I believe they still have some corresponence occassionally.

[Niceguy]

This is a cool thread. I've got a few decent ones...

I went to college and had a handful of classes with the younger sister of Tiki and Ronde Barber. Their younger brother went to my high school and was friends with my younger brother.

My best friend went to high school with Jeremy Shockey in Ada, Oklahoma.

One of my family's good friends was the neighbor of Kyle Kosier in Dallas while he was still with the Cowboys.

Other sports:

John Starks son, also named John, went to my high school.

In my graduating class of about 100 students one of my classmates was Kelenna Azabuike, who played basketball at Kentucky and now plays in the NBA. His most notable time in the NBA has been playing with the Golden State Warriors a few years ago.

I spent an evening hanging out with AJ de la Garza who plays for the LA Galaxy.

[meineymoe]

My brother played high school football with Chad Cascadden, who walked on for the Badgers and played for the Jets and Patriots back in the '90s, and a friend of ours got on the ESPN draft show because he was in a clip getting mowed over by Jim Leonhard. Otherwise, not a lot of exposure here in northwest Wisconsin.

-oo-

[Jimi Hendrix]

I'm not best buds with any of these guys but I work the team meals for Wake Forest football as a banquet captain and have gotten to know guys like OL-Joe Looney who was drafted this year by San Fran, wr-Givens who was drafted by STL. and lb- Wilbur drafted by Cowboys this year and Curry a couple of years ago

One of my friends that I work with, his mom has an office in Deacon Tower, not sure about your connection with WF.

team meals are not at the Deacon tower . The team stays at a hotel about 5 minutes from the stadium. They check in on friday night when we feed them a late night deli buffet around 9pm, then depending on game time Saturday feed them breakfast, lunch and pregame meals. I get my game tickets from coach Faircloth or as the players call him " Big Daddy"

[pack4ever22]

This is an awesome thread, great read. Nothing major but i got a couple of stories, met Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher on a radio show. My high school weight room manager was friends with tony canedeo, hall of fame rb for the packers. This is a 85 year old man whos had half his joints replaced and still lifts every day, he always has a lot of good stories too. And my roomate went to highschool with Joel Stave qb for the badgers, doubt he'll make it to the nfl, but who knows. Apparently he's a great guy, my roomate says that it was always his goal to beat stave in one athletic event, eventually he did, apparently stave isn't a good swimmer.