Odd places you've met players

[Fan in Chicago]

I met Maria Sharapova in my dreams

[Not at the table Karlos]

Thurman Thomas. Went on a field trip to the auto show in high school. He was sitting at the same table where we had lunch. Nobody recognized him until he got up to do his speach.

 

Bobby shaw at target on the blvd

 

Nate Clements stuck in traffic on Niagara Falls blvd near target during that huge black out a few years ago

 

Dareus at the gas station last December around the jets game.

 

Pat Williams at the blvd mall and a whole bunch of other places his white hummer with DT 92 license plates didn't help

 

Brandon spoon at one of those super cheap electronics sales they have at the convention center

Edited June 28, 2013 by kr632

[reddogblitz]

Roger Staubach in the men's room of the press box at Texas Stadium.

 

Not sure if this counts, but we saw Richard Simmons in the Cleveland airport on our way to the home opener a few years ago.

 

John Niland came over to our house once when I was a kid to talk to my Dad about some printing business stuff for his new restaurant.

 

We saw Dukey the Whassup guy in the Philadelphia airport. He was on the same flight as us to Dallas.

 

Ernie Stautner in the TeePee Club at Dallas Blackhawks games.

[....lybob]

Not met but saw pretty close up.

 

Fred Smerlas and Jim Haslett at a Tops, two very large human beings at least to me at the time, in fact Fred still rates as one of the widest humans I have ever seen, they were walking down the isles pushing each other into the food and knocking crap over

 

Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Thurman, Reed and Bennett at various bars - Smith and Kelly could be real jack asses, Reed and Bennett were always chill, and Thurman you never knew, he could go from laughing and joking to wanting to fight people in a short period of time- there were probably other Bills there but it was before the internet where you knew everybody's face

 

Phil Hansen at the BAC doing power cleans and stuff- super polite

 

Doug Flutie and London Fletcher at fund raisers and functions, both were pretty generous with time and money for the kids.

[frogger]

Right after thurman became a dolphin, i saw him at blizzard beach (disney water park) i told him he broke my heart, he said the Bills' broke his.

A friend of mine got a flat tire in a very upscale hood in orlando, she is a girl and had no idea what she was doing, i went to help,when i got there, jj reddick had the tire off, i helped him from there. Really nice guy, his wife is sweet too, she brought us water.

I run into shaq all the time, oddest place, walmart in pine hills. For those who do not know, Pine Hills is a bad area in Orlando. he was shopping, cell phone in hand, he is good with faces, as i walked by him, i got a "what's up my man?" he is a large human.

Robert Porcher and Kellen winslow sr are clients of mine, winslow sr is a super nice guy. Porcher's eyes will scare the crap out of you. there are others, but not as cool. i hate writing on my tablet.

[Bills Fan since '64]

I had a deposition against Dan Darragh once. I said to him "Dan, your name is awfully familiar, where do I know you from?" And he said "I used to play quarterback for the Buffalo Bills." Oh, that's why it's familiar.

 

He was QB in 1968 the year that the Bills started 4 different guys at QB - Darragh, Flores, Stephenson and Rutkowski, and again in 1969 when they started 3 different QBs - Kemp, Darragh and Harris. Career stats - 4 TDs, 22 INTs.

 

He was a better lawyer than quarterback. As a QB, probably his biggest thrill was handing off to OJ.

[Armchair GM]

I met Bruce @ Pure Platinum and played pool against he and his friend. He cheated, every ball that dropped, regardless of what pocket, he thought was OK and tried to keep going. I called him out on it. At first, he looked shocked and as if he was going to go the *D route, but then he laughed and was cool about it...said something like he was shocked I actually called him out on it. Ended up being a great night as we shared a table and had an endless train of "dancers" at the table.

 

Met "House" Ballard at the Old Country Buffett on Union, the old Dicks Plaza. I'm 6'3" 260 and I could completely hide behind this man.

 

Had a couple run ins with Jimbo...won't bother with the story as they weren't very good experiences and he's "immortal" on this board...Same goes with Reed and Thomas.

 

Eric Moulds stopped in a dive bar we used to frequent as under agers...also, not a good ending to the night...for Moulds, anyway. Turns out, the hot bartender was one of his baby momma's and he put his hands on her (grabbed her, not hit her) and my buddy's, the bouncers, and a couple of us tossed his a** out the door.

 

Another buddy knocked out Chris Rasmussen (sp, and a Sabre) at Fat Cats back in the day...awesome night...and "Razor" didn't even care, he thought he deserved what he got for being a tool.

 

Jay McKee (sp) is a total D Bag, by the way.

[Catskill Bills]

Back in the 80's, my dad worked at a club called The Library in Niagara Falls. That was where he introduced me to his friend Fred Smerlas! Fred would bring in various members of the team and my dad would call me so I could come in and meet them.

[Harveyj001]

I ran into Roland Hooks at Sunset Bay many years ago, was very nice.

[Beerball]

I'm not sure whether the third stall (well, third and fourth stall to be honest) in the restroom of the Copacabana qualifies but that's what I'm tossing out there.

[SturgeonPt1]

Sat next to Joe D on a flight from Charlotte to Buffalo. Just a nice person and good guy!

[Bags]

I met Bruce Smith at his golf tournament in Virginia Beach where I now live; I also met Thurman Thomas there, and saw Doug Flutie & Darryl Talley milling around. When I was a kid in Williamsville I lived down the street from Billy Shaw. He was really cool--we'd knock on his door and he'd come out and play football in the street with us.

[tennesseeboy]

Meeting a player at a bar on at training camp isn't all that odd. I was hitchhiking out to the lake with my brother in the summer of 1965 and we got picked up Elbert Dubenion (golden wheels) who had a white Cadillac convertible. Neat guy. We talked about high school football and he went out of his way to drop us off right where were going. Another time I was coming from an event and got a flat tire late at night and was going to change my tire when a car pulled up and a guy got out dressed casually and said that I was too dressed up to change a tire and changed it for me. I offered him some money and he said Nah...you just do the same for somebody else. His name was Tracey and he was a linebacker for the Bills along with Stratton.

[Tu-Toned]

Met Don Shula, Jim Kick and Larry Czonka at the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Golf Classic in Wet Lauderdale, FLA.

I was about 10, and was strolling the 18th fairway, Shula called me out to the fairway with him and the two backs,

and we strolled and talked most of the way up the 18th. I asked if I could have his golf ball when he finished,

he finished, looked around through a pretty big gallery, and rolled the ball directly to me. Hate the Fins with a

passion, but Don Shula is a class act.

 

Would regularly run into Czonka in Plantation Florida, nice guy, I knew it was him because of the way his nose

sat sideways on his face.

 

My cousin from Buffalo residing in FL and his cousin visiting from Buffalo told me that they ran into Jim Kelly

at a bar in South Florida in his playing days, said they ran into him on the way out and two guys were helping

him out of the bar. My cousin's cousin yells to him, "hey Jim, I'm from Buffalo", and he looks at them and slurs

so F______ing what!

 

Saw Kelly at a Golf Torney in PA, it was the exact day that Toothlesburger crashed his bike. Not only can Kelly

drive a golf ball, but his putting was pretty dam good too. I was playing a couple of foursomes ahead of him, and

guess who was in a group right behind him? None other than Everson Walls. I heard an exchange of something

to the effect about Walls and him BS'ing bout the SB years, and Walls later relating the discussion to someone else.

Said something like I congratulated Jim on the effort and the run, and slipped in F-----ing loser. I swear, I guess

his smack talkin days just can't escape him.

 

Ran into Bert Jones at a very small hardly attended LC Greenwood event in my back yard, I live off the course,

a couple of years ago. Bert grabbed my son who was like 5 and rides him around the course for a while as they are

waiting to tee off. He was telling stories in his southern Louisiana drawl, and someone said Bert, you just better

hurry up and tee off cause LC is right behind you, Bert sez, well you go tell ole LC that he better shut the hell

up, cause those super bowls he went to, I personnally sent him to a couple. Wille Mays was there, Boom Boom

Geoffreon, Baby Doll, all the Old LC Greenwood Miller Lite Commercial People, what a blast. I saw Charles Smith

walking across a green, did you ever see a tall basketball player walking across a green, it looks like a praying mantis

or something.

 

Last one, not a player, but I met Bob Hope all by himself at the Inverrary as he was sitting in the back of his limo,

after he had finished playing. He was all sweaty and obviously tired, this is like '72 or so, so he was getting up in age then.

I asked for his autograph, he said no problem, but I did not have a pen. He waits in his limo for me to go get one,

I think I ran all the way into the clubhouse to get one, come back out, and he signs personnaly to me. Bob Hope is

truly a great American Hero and tops in my book.

Edited June 28, 2013 by Tu-Toned

[trigger]

Two years ago, a former student of mine asked me if I wanted to come to his house to watch the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament here in Indianapolis. He is a golf club pro and said he was bringing a buddy of his who he was currently instructing. As I'm sitting in his basement, his client knocks on the front door, and I am stunned to see that it is Frank Reich! Kyle had set me up because he knew I am a huge Bills fan and that I would love to meet the "Architect of Comebacks". Anyway, I got to talk with Frank for over an hour one-on-one and he told several hilarious stories about his playing days. Before he left Indy, I got to see him several more times and when he left for the Cardinals, he gave me his and her's Bills stadium jackets that he and his wife wore. Really nice guy.

[mousetrap08]

Met Mark Kelso in the Bills parking lot and he started coming to our post game tailgates on a regular basis. He even took my handicapped nephews toy football helmet into the locker room and had all the players and coaches sign it. My nephew is now 25 he was about 3 or 4 then and he still has it. Mark is a class act and my nephew is very proud of that helmet and the whole family would like to thank Mark for doing that. Oh by the Ralph Wilson also stopped by once and had a hotdog with us.

[eball]

It wasn't me, it was my dad, but it's an interesting story for sure. Back in the early 70s when my dad worked for New York Telephone in downtown Buffalo there was some sort of strike so management employees had to go out into the field to handle installations and customer service issues. On one such trip, my dad found himself at the apartment of none other than Orenthal James Simpson, and Joe DeLamielleure was also there.

 

While he was there he was able to secure two autographs for me, one from OJ on a black and white photo of Simpson in action during a game against the Saints in 1973, and another from Joe D on a different photo. Despite the horrible acts OJ committed later in life, both framed photos remain prized possessions and hang in my TV room.

[clayboy54]

Big Mike Williams in a ditch on the way to the Ralph.

[hit and marshawn]

Met Melvin Fowler. He is currently a bouncer at the Marquis in Vegas. Nice guy, got us on the list for a table and let us cut the line because we were bills fans.

[quinnearlysghost88]

I was at that same festival in delaware(firefly), and it was filled with Bills fans, in fact I have a picture amongst thousands of tents and there in the distance is a Sabres flag flying 10 ft off the ground. I did a let's go buffalo with 3 separate groups of people.