Archive for July, 2009
NFL Personalities: The Nice Guys I’ve Met
Posted by: | CommentsFans love knowing that the players they follow are genuinely nice people, or at least try hard to be. The irony is that some pro athletes get so much media coverage for their athletic accomplishments, but their real personalities rarely get to shine.
I have been fortunate to meet and interview more than 200 professional athletes over the years, mostly from the NFL. Some are as you might expect—uninterested, and issuing as many short answers as they can come up with. But I’ve also come across plenty who have been remarkably friendly and as accommodating.
Some of you can probably relate. You’ve had the chance to meet a player you’ve been following for years. Maybe he was cooler than you ever imagined. Maybe he was a jerk for whatever reason. Either experience can greatly affect your opinion of him, and how closely you’ll continue to follow him.
It’s always refreshing talking to a player who seems to be interested in meeting you. A handful stand out as the nicest and friendliest players I’ve ever met: here’s a recap of some of my experiences with them.
Terrence Newman, CB, Cowboys
When I introduced myself to Newman (a.k.a. T-New), I told him I was from Dallas and was glad that the Cowboys picked him. We just sat down and talked a bit about the Cowboys and playing his college ball in the Big 12.
Newman is a really funny guy. We were at the NFL Rookie Premiere Photo Shoot and he’d grab the photographers’ cameras and start taking his own pictures of other players.
He posed for a quick, impromptu photo shoot for the cover Beckett Football—the magazine I was covering the event for. He wasn’t being paid any extra for it, and he wasn’t contracted to do it. But he was more than willing and accommodating.
Several weeks later, when the magazine was printed with him on the cover, he even signed several copies for us to show his appreciation.
Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings
As a life-long Texas Longhorns fan, I used to have a respectful distain for Adrian Peterson. Before I met him, I had this vision of a cocky, entitled superstar.
I was completely wrong.
Physically, my first impression of Peterson was just as I’d expected—a lean, rock-solid natural athlete. In fact, when I shook his hand, he squeezed my knuckles like they were cotton balls. He truly doesn’t know his own strength. It made me feel about a foot tall.
But Peterson has a very inviting disposition—as if he’s comfortable with anything you throw at him. He was constantly smiling every time I looked over at him. He was more than happy to pose for a couple pictures with a copy of Beckett Football with him on the cover.
It’s always cool to see a personality like Peterson taking over the league. The guy as rushed for more than 3,000 yards and 22 touchdowns in just two seasons. No doubt, he’s added a ton of fans to his crowded bandwagon: those fans can rest knowing that Peterson is a kind-hearted guy who absolutely loves football.
Matt Ryan, QB, Falcons
Matt Ryan takes home the Mr. Nice Guy trophy. In fact, he was almost too nice.
Ryan was a rookie when I interviewed him, and at first he seemed more like a church youth minister than an NFL quarterback. He was kind of thin and baby-faced, but I could tell he was smart and confident in a Peyton Manning sort of way. You can tell when a player is really listening to what you are saying to them when they start talking to you in more of a conversational tone, instead of just answering questions you are firing off. Such was the case with Ryan.
About halfway through our interview, Ryan had to be at another spot at the event we were at, but he insisted that I walk with him to finish the interview. So I did. I could tell he was trying his best to listen closely to my questions and answer them with as much detail as he could.
A couple of days later it was announced that Ryan had signed a six-year, $72 million contract with the Falcons. Maybe that’s why he was in such a good mood. Either way, Ryan is on to a great start to his career, having led his team to the playoffs in his rookie year. Heck, his first pass in the NFL went for a touchdown. It’s great to see a guy like him having such early success.
Patrick Willis, LB, 49ers
There are just a few players I’ve met who stand out as guys who seem to take football very seriously, and truly love the game. Guys like Texans WR Andre Johnson, 49ers RB Frank Gore, Lions WR Calvin Johnson, and Patrick Willis.
Willis was a beast in the SEC for Mississippi. I’ve asked several former SEC offensive players to name the toughest player they’ve ever had to face, and many of them named Willis. He led the NFL in tackles his rookie year (2007) and was second last year.
As dominating as he’s already become, when I met him, talking to Willis was like talking to an old friend I hadn’t seen in years. He also was one of the more conversational players I’ve ever interviewed. He went on and on about his approach to the game and what he needs to get better at. I could tell right away that there was no way Patrick Willis was going to fail in the NFL. If he was a stock, I would have bought all I could. He was one of those rare athletes that you just want to get to know more about on a personal level.
Dallas Clark, TE, Colts
Clark is possibly the most down-to-earth player I’ve ever come across. He instantly struck me as someone who does not belong among the superstar Hollywood-persona athletes. He had this overwhelming awe about actually being in the NFL. He’s more shy farm boy than Pro Bowl tight end.
I showed him the value of some of his early football cards in an issue of Beckett Football, and while flipping through the magazine he said, “I hope I’m not a common.”
Kind of ironic (not to mention funny), I think. Clark is now one of the best tight ends in the game, but is as much of a common man as anyone you’ll ever run across.
Trent Edwards, QB, Bills
You’d never peg Trent Edwards for an NFL quarterback. He looks as average as can be, and isn’t the prototypical big-frame, strong-arm signal caller you’d expect to see from an NFL starting QB.
Edwards’ quiet demeanor was refreshing when I met him in 2007. He was signing a bunch of autographs for NFL Auctions and I noticed how slowly he signed, which was completely different from just about every player out there. Then I looked closer and saw him signing every letter in his name in nice cursive handwriting: T-r-e-n-t E-d-w-a-r-d-s.
I asked him if it was important to him to sign a neat signature on autographed items. He responded, “Absolutely.” He said that if people are going to spend money for a simple thing like his signature, he would feel terrible if it wasn’t perfect.
Edwards clearly came across as someone who felt almost overwhelmed about making it to the NFL. He was completely respectful of the league and the career ahead of him.
Not all players can be Dallas Clarks or Adrian Petersons. But the ones who take the time to really show their respect for the game they play, and their appreciation for the fans that follow them: those are the ones who are humble at heart.
Those players are the ones who will be loved years after they retire, the ones who make cheering for our heroes so much fun.
David Lee is a Dallas-based writer, and the former editor of Beckett Football and Beckett Basketball. To see more of his work, visit his website at www.MrWriteMedia.com.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Halladay Another Test for Brian Cashman
Posted by: | CommentsThe story of the New York Yankees over the last fifteen years or so has been quite remarkable. During their run of six World Series appearances and four Championships, the team was able to find success through a solid blueprint: develop talent from within the system like Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera, then surround them with veterans like David Cone, David Wells, Roger Clemens, Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez.
When things got interesting was when the latter group of veterans retired. With the core of Jeter, Posada and Rivera intact, the Yankees notoriously went to the market year after year, picking up or trading for the best established players they could find to round out their roster. And yet, while the likes of O’Neill, Tino and Wells are cherished by Yankee fans to this day, big ticket players like Mussina, Giambi and A-Rod have been supported, but it’s been a step below love and appreciation. And to be fair, it’s been nine whole years since the Yankees won a World Series (sarcasm intended), which is unacceptable to their fans. And since the core has been there, done that and earned their rings, it’s the players with big contracts who have taken the blame.
Aside from the fleeting affection of Yankee fans, a model based mostly on bringing in mercenary players simply doesn’t work in the long run. And I don’t mean this in the sense of some emotional cliche like “they’ll never be true Yankees loved by the fans”, but rather, on a practical level of building the best team possible. If you draft and scout well, you can control premium players in their peak years, for a fraction of what they would cost as a free agent. This is how you obtain franchise players like Chase Utley, Evan Longoria or Ryan Braun. At the start of the decade, the Yankees ignored this because they could, spending big money and trading prospects whenever possible to pick up the next hot player.
It becomes a cycle that continuously mortgages the future for the benefit of the present. Draft picks and younger players keep moving through the system to other teams, veterans who only have a few years of productivity get signed to contracts for double that length, and you need to keep playing “catch up” to remain competitive for this season in light of the mistakes from past.
To his credit, Yankees GM Brian Cashman noticed this problem, and took steps to rectify it. He made a fairly public demand of wanting to run the baseball operations without George Steinbrenner meddling in the plans (now he has Hank and Hal to deal with, which is a story in itself). George was notoriously impatient and always wanted to “win now”, while Cashman recognized the value in having a long term plan. And he’s put one in place, and stuck to it.
Case and point, Johan Santana was on the trade market in the winter of 2007-2008, and practically there for the Yankees to take: at the cost of say, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera. In a move that declared a change in Yankee philosophy Cashman decided to pass, holding onto his best young players at the time. The line had been drawn, and the days of the Yankees simply using their young players as fodder in trades had ended.
But now we’re in 2009. Unlike the Santana situation, which was in the winter, we’re now in the middle of the season. As I write this, the Yankees are a game back from Boston in the division, and have a 3.5 game lead in the Wild Card. If a little extra push is needed, it’s there for the taking in Roy Halladay.
And thus, Brian Cashman will be tested again. If he wants to give up on his plan to build from within, he can trade some combination of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Austin Jackson, Jesus Montero and Francisco Cervelli. The farm system gets gutted, but the Yankees get Halladay and Sabathia at the top of their rotation: two workhorses who have the best reputations in the league for throwing tons of innings, and pitching complete games. They’d be a force for the rest of the season, and more importantly, very intimidating in the playoffs.
A baseball autographed by Austin Jackson, the Yankees' top position player prospect. Is he a future Yankee great, or will he play in Toronto?
In this scenario, the Yankees would once again mortgage their future for the present, but who could blame them? It’s not like Jeter, Posada or Rivera are getting any younger. A-Rod and Teixeira will be with the team until 2017 and 2016, respectively, and probably won’t have much left in the tank as those contracts wind down. And while Halladay would become a free agent after the 2010 season, it would give the Yankees the opportunity to sign him to an extension before that moment comes (much like the Mets did with Santana).
Let’s also not forget that as much as the Yankees love to throw around money, free agent pitchers won’t be flocking to pitch in their new home run happy stadium. I know that if I was a free agent pitcher looking for my next employer, I’d run as far away as I could from the Yankees right now. The notorious New York pressure is bad enough, but couple that with a launching pad of a stadium, and that contract for a bit less money in say, Los Angeles or San Francisco starts to look like the best one on the table.
So if you’re Brian Cashman, what do you do? Go all in and make your team even more of a juggernaut right now at the expense of a poor future, or hold onto your young players, and go with what you have? The 2009 Yankees can become even stronger at the expense of the 2013 Yankees, and with their demanding fanbase and ownership feeling like they’re long owed championship #27, I wouldn’t want to be in Cashman’s shoes with this decision.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Legendary Pioneers Signature Card: Doubleday, Naismith, Rockne and Lord Stanley
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the things I’ve tried to do with this here blog since we launched earlier in the year is to bring sports fans and collectors a bit closer to Upper Deck, and let you in on what we do, and what it’s like to be here.
So in the interest of full disclosure, I’ll tell you a story about one of our meetings. There we were, huddled around our table, talking about all kinds of super secret Upper Deck things I can’t disclose here yet. One item mentioned was that we were doing a promotion this year where we’d produce a one-of-a-kind card featuring the signatures from the “Legendary Pioneers” of baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
Everyone nodded.
Then the details came. “So it’ll be Abner Doubleday for baseball, James Naismith for Basketball, Frederick Stanley for hockey, and Knute Rockne for football.”
Now this item had been in the works for a while now, but some of us weren’t aware of it yet. So many of us gasped, and simultaneously let out their own way of exclaiming, “That is so freakin’ cool!” Myself included.
The point I’m trying to make is that look, admittedly, we get a little jaded here sometimes. Look at our Brag Photos of the Week, this building is lined with all kinds of amazing memorabilia. We all love sports and our job is a very cool outlet for that passion, but understandably, we’ve seen our fair share of memorabilia items pass through the building.
So when there’s an item that makes everyone in the room immediately turn into a fanboy upon mention, you know it’s an exceptionally hot one.
The best part? As always, this card will be going to one of our customers. In this case, not so much a “lucky” customer, but a dedicated one. The first collector to put together a full set of 2009 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball (or the one who gets closest) will become the proud owner of this card. Click here for full information, and if you’re passionate enough, start putting together your full set now.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Brag Photo: The Yankee Stadium Legacy Collection
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’ve been following our blog the last few weeks, you know that five obsessive collectors completed our Yankee Stadium Legacy collection (well over 6,000 cards, one for each game played at the old stadium), and got to meet Derek Jeter before a game as a reward for their hard work.
Now, aside from these five full collections, we’ve had our own for about a year now, and it’s got about 6,000 miles of travel on it at this point. First, it went from our office here in Carlsbad to the 2008 All-Star FanFest in New York. From there, it went to the Yogi Berra Museum in New Jersey where it was displayed to the public, before coming back to Yankee Stadium for this event, and finally all the way back here to our office.
That’s a lot of cards to ship around. And now, the collection resides in our lobby for all to see.
When you’re talking 6,661 cards, a good old card binder isn’t going to cut it. You need a case about this epic:
It’s very cool to finally see this in person, and the display case really shows it off. Check out the side view: yes, all the cards are in there!
And they’re sorted by year, giving you a nice snapshot of Yankee history and its iconic players.
So there you have it: the world’s largest baseball card set, hanging out in our lobby (right by the Tiger Art and Giant Sidney Crosby).
Even though the opportunity to collect the full set and meet Derek Jeter has passed, there’s still something cool and meaningful you can do with these cards if you have any hanging around: The Bench is putting together the full set with the goal of selling it on eBay and donating the money to The Jimmy V Foundation. Click here for more information, and get in touch with them if you want to donate some Yankee Stadium Legacy cards for a great cause!
Popularity: 1% [?]
MLB FanFest: Something to Sing About!
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This year’s FanFest gave me a whole new meaning to the popular musical title, “Meet Me in St. Louis”. I was fortunate enough to be in New York last season for the All-Star game that commemorated Yankee Stadium’s last year: an experience that is hard to beat. However, the city of St. Louis rose to the occasion, and the fans truly made this year’s FanFest one to remember. The friendly Cardinals fans attended the show throughout the week, filling the America’s Center with the famous “Sea of Red” made up of dedicated supporters proudly wearing Cards shirts and jerseys.
Of all 19 years in existence, this year’s FanFest saw the event’s two-millionth attendee of all-time! In addition to reaching this overall milestone, the event pre-sold 85,000 tickets, and the numbers are expected to break last year’s New York record of 135,000.
The large crowds were also evident in the Upper Deck booth. The Cardinals insert cards featuring Pujols, Smith, Brock, Gibson and Musial drew the fans to the redemption counter day after day, as the redemption packs flew off the shelves. The UpperDeckU area in the back of the booth was no different. Kids lined up to play in a virtual scavenger hunt against other kids to learn about the online sports world and compete for real prizes!
To compliment the mass quantity of attendees during the event, baseball legend and Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith served as the official spokesman of FanFest, and coached kid clinics throughout the week. Fellow All-Stars Cal Ripken Jr., Lou Brock, Brooks Robinson and Harmon Killebrew were also on hand and held free autograph sessions for the local fans.
With knowledgeable, passionate and kind-hearted fans like those in St. Louis, I’d be willing to meet you there any day!
Popularity: unranked [?]
