| Signed Football from Flag Football w/photos | Signed Hall of Fame Football w/photos | Signed Football w/photos | Signed Index Cards w/photos |
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On January 22, 2003, I
won an auction with
cbs.sportsline.com. This auction was for the opportunity to play flag football with some superstars. I had bought my plane ticket, booked my hotel room and booked my rental car a month earlier, so I REALLY hoped that I would win...and I did! With blessings from my wife, kids and my brother, I was off to San Diego! I had never been to California before, let alone San Diego. What a beautiful area. I had a couple of days before the game, so I spent some time in the Gaslamp Quarter, which is the downtown area of San Diego. The NFL Experience, which was an interactive "theme" park with lots of games, food and autograph sessions, was being held in that area as well. 
 I had a great couple of days, bumping into former (and current) players, coaches and announcers and getting their autographs. It was pretty amazing all the luck that I had. I had two footballs signed. One with lots of great players and one with current or future Hall of Fame players. I also got quite a few signed index cards. 
Saturday the 25th of January was a
beautiful day. Not only because I was going to play flag football
with some superstars, but the sun was shinning bright and the temperature was about 10 degrees higher than normal.
I decided to get to the stadium early.
I figured I was traveling all the way from Maine, I didn't want
to miss or be late for the game. I got to the stadium at 9:00, even though the game wasn't supposed to start until 11:00. All the other players slowly started to trickle in and about 10:30 the pros started to arrive. By 10:50, everyone was there.
Before anyone had arrived, the players
had been divided into two teams;
Flutie's Flakes and Aikman's Aces. I was on Flutie's Flakes. 
 Troy Aikman is an amazing quarterback. He made throws that, well, only a great quarterback could. As good as he was, though, Doug Flutie was absolutely MADE for games like this. He dominated. Although, he seems really quick and fast on television, he's even more impressive in person. Needless to say, with him at the helm, we won the game 54-38.
I've met quite a few athletes in
person. It's usually just a quick exchange of pleasantries and then
they or I move on. What was so incredible about this event, was that I got to be in the huddle with Doug Flutie and we were discussing what kind of plays to run! And then we ran them! The two hour game seemed to last forever and it also seemed to fly right by.
After the game, we had a great catered
lunch and had the opportunity to get some
autographs.
For the rest of my trip, I hit the beaches, played a little
basketball, went to the
World Famous San Diego Zoo and ate lots of great Mexican food. I couldn't have had a better week if I had tried! |
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