When players become people

I love football.  I respect the players.  I go to training camp, watch the practice, and try to push my way to the fence in hopes of getting my football signed by some of the players.  This year was a little more difficult to get over to camp though with a little one in tow.  Yes, I work in Westminster and live not too far away, but nap times are from 10-12 and 3:30-4:30 and unless I want to be up all night, I better not break that schedule.

On one of the nicer days though, my husband and I packed up our little princess (and the rest of the house that seems to be necessary when we travel with her) and headed over to McDaniel in hopes of meeting some of the players.  After waiting during the two hour practice, and trying to keep my mouth shut while listening to some people that I would have a hard time even admitting I am from the same state as, we hear the horn at the end of practice.  Finally.  Then we realize, just our luck, none of the players are heading our way.  They are all going straight to the building for meetings.

Ok, what is my point? Not ALL of the Ravens headed right to the gym.  There were five players that came out to sign autographs.  No one would have noticed if they just went up with the rest of the team, but they didn’t.  There was one player in particular, Derrick Mason, who stood out to me.  Maybe it is because I am now a mother and my priorities and ways I look at people has changed, but he seemed so incredibly genuine that it almost shocked me.  He stopped at every single fan that was standing at the fence, and didn’t just sign whatever they were holding and move on.  He interacted and talked with the fans.  When he got to us (we were about at the halfway point) you could tell he was tired, but he still had the biggest smile on his face like he was just happy to be there and happy to be out there with the fans.  He stopped and asked how old my baby was, said how pretty she is (which goes without saying, but he still did), thanked us for coming out and bringing her, and took a picture with us.

I know that just because you play football doesn’t mean you have to be nice.  I can’t even imagine people calling my name where ever I go because I am “the greatest hot tub salesperson ever” and I am not sure I would want to have to deal with that.  But these guys do and they seem to appreciate all the support that we the fans give to them.  I think I have come to respect the players more for how they treat their fans, the people who watch and cheer for them week after week no matter how cold it is or when nap time happens to be, then how well they play the game.