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Originally Posted by spectre
That's an awesome story. I like hearing stuff like that.
That's very true. I've met several players from the Bears before, and some are better about it than others. There are two in particular that stand out, one current and one former (but was on the team at the time). Alex Brown and Jerry Azumah. Alex Brown was at a place to have photos taken with fans, once it was done, his wife was there with their baby and it was pretty obvious she wanted to leave. He stood there and signed anything and everything anyone put in front of him. I'd swear, after that he was hunting people down so he could sign more stuff. It doesn't surprise me though since I once saw him on Jim Rome is Burning and he talked about meeting LT back when he was a teen, and LT bitched him out for asking for an autograph, he said he would never do the same. Jerry Azumah was equally cool. He was at the same place, but the next day and was looking around some of the shops. There were a bunch of security guys around him and they were blocking the entrance to the place. They asked him to go out the back way to avoid the crowd and his response was, "we're going out the front and we're waiting until they're done with me." Two very cool guys who understand that it's the fans that make them such icons.
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I think it is individual by individual. I was at a Cubs-Cardinals game late in the year that McGwire hit 70 HRs. Towards the end of batting practice he was near the dugout, and he signed dozens of autographs, almost all for people with kids, or for the kids themselves. I thought it was very classy.
Also, at a couple of Bulls games early in his career, I was fortunate enough to have floor seats and see Elton Brand take time to sign autographs for many kids. Once, between the early shootaround and the time the teams came out to the bench, he stood in an entranceway and signed autograph after autograph at the edge of the stands, always looking for the smallest face to reach for what they were holding. To me, that was a sign of a good guy.