Fantasy Football

Do players care more about their money or their fans?

I thought it was very important to write a piece concerning the players and their fans, after a pretty lousy showing of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball players last night. Not one player from the Rays stopped to sign an autograph for the kids. This is what happened:

Last night me and my family went to a Tampa Bay Rays game for Autism Awareness. 23,000 fans were in attendence and it was a pretty cool event, especially with the tribute to Don Zimmer and the game experience itself.

My kids as well as my nephew enjoyed the game quite a bit. After the game, we took the children to the parking lot where the players sign autographs and we were totally denied. It was so bad that the Tampa Bay Rays players just drove off and failed to sign for the 20 kids some Autistic, waiting in the parking lot. The only two players to sign were Mariners players (the opposing team) who were waiting for their taxi.

I don’t know if this is just a team problem or a national problem, but my question is Do players love their money more than their fans?

I have been to numerous NFL games and the experience to get autographs after the game have all been pretty good. We were able to call the players over and they signed. There were obviously players that were too good to sign an autograph, but that is sad.

These young fans are the reason the spirt continues on. If it was not for guys like Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly and Jeff Burris signing things for me, I probably wouldn’t be doing it for my kids.

My kids were super happy to get an autograph of a Seattle Mariners player, when the entire game they rooted for the Rays. It is sad that when my kids left for the game and the entire time they sat in the crowd they cheered for the Tampa Bay Rays, but when they left the game they were pumped that a Seattle Mariner signed their items.

Listen kids are influenced by the small things, if you cannot stop for a minute to sign an autograph for a little kid, especially one with Autism, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Don’t let Money and Greed get the best of you, those kids will make you more money over the years when they buy your jerseys, and brands.

I remember a player named Raion Hill of the Buffalo Bills who promised me a pair of gloves signed after a practice. I waited patiently for 2 hours until practice was over, and when Raion came out and saw me, he realized he forgot the gloves. He told me to hang tight and drove back to the facility went inside and came out with two pairs of gloves. That is still one of my childhood memories of getting an autograph.

You do not have to jump through hoops to do something for the little fans, like Raion Hill of the Buffalo Bills did for me when I was a kid, but if you ask me today who my favorite player is, still to this day #39 of the Bills is on that list.

Damond Talbot

NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com

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