Throughout my life I have been very blessed with getting to meet some extremely talented professional athletes. I have met athletes at practices, games, restaurants, churches and a few other places as well. When I lived in Tennessee my family and I met a lot of the team members from the Tennessee Titans by hearing about events on the radio. We also went to some of their preseason practices which worked out really well for getting autographs on my Titans jersey. Now that I find out most of information about meet and greets from social media it is really impressive to me that we were able to be so successful.
My favorite player on the Titans when I was young was quarterback Steve McNair. We found out that he was doing an autograph signing at a Radio Shack store at a mall not too far from where we lived. It was pretty great to get Steve to sign my McNair jersey. Derrick Mason, former wide receiver for the Titans, was doing an event in Nashville so we went down there and met him. Frank Wycheck, former, did a radio show at a restaurant and we went down to see him there.
Frank Wycheck
My best recommendations now for meeting professional athletes would be to follow your favorite team on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. If there are any particular players that you want to meet follow their social media accounts as well. When/if they have any meet and greets or will be making an appearance at an event it should be announced on their social media account. If a player or a coach, current or former, writes a book going to their book signings is a great way to meet them as well.
Derrick Mason
You should have the most luck meeting Baseball player since some of them will meet with fans after batting practice. Of course this is not guaranteed but it does work out very well for a lot of Mike Trout fans at Angels games. A lot of Angel players do signings at local sports stores which is always advertised through Facebook or Twitter. Before the Dodgers last game they announced on their twitter account that you could go to the left field plaza at 4pm to meet Dodger legends Ron Cey, Al Downing, and Mickey Hatcher.
Last month I had the blessing of meeting former Lakers player AC Green who played for the team in the 1980’s. AC came to Friends Community Church in Yorba Linda, CA to share his testimony. In addition to sharing how he came to know God he also shared some stories from his time with the Lakers. He was a fantastic storyteller and it was so much fun listening to him. After he finished speaking he met with fans for forty five minutes. This church has previously hosted Tim Tebow and I hope he will be back in the future.
Shaun White
I have also seen Gold medalist Shaun White when he came to Franklin, Tennessee for a skate boarding event. Shaun, who is also known as the flying tomato, represented the United States in 2006 and 2010 Olympics. Previous members of the U.S. Olympic team like Ryan Lochte and Nastia Lukin have been meeting fans as part of the Road to Rio tour.
A lot of athletes, like Angels pitcher CJ Wilson, have a charity and normally will host an event to raise money at least once through out the year. Last year CJ Wilson hosted an event at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort. Other Angels players showed up and it is a great way to not only meet the players you are fans of but also support great causes. You can easily look on google to see what athletes in your area have a charity and might be making an appearance at an upcoming event.
I hope this will give you some ideas on how you might be able to meet some of your favorite athletes. Just remember to be patient when waiting to meet someone and always have a sharpie if you would like an autograph. If you have gotten to meet a professional athlete share your story in the comments below.
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I am from the UK and don’t know any of these. But I bet it feels amazing to met people like this
Well aren’t you the lucky one!
I am from the UK and am unfamiliar with these athletes but they sound awesome.
That is cool that you met these people.
That is pretty cool that you got to me them! Great tips on meeting a celebrity!
Wow, it seems like you have gotten to meet quite a few athletes! I bet this was a great opportunity for you!
I remember AC Green’s book when I was a young teenager. He is definitely someone to look up to, and Twitter is a great way to follow athletes. It’s originally why I started my account!
Pro athletes are so admirable, they are definitely worth meeting and knowing. This is such and awesome opportunity especially for kids who are interested in the same sport!
how exciting for you to be able to meet people that are important mentors or role models.
Awe, I love it and totally agree it feels amazing! Everyone should have the opp and love that you share your tips ;)
Its really amazing to met people like this. My nephew would wanting to become an athletes.
They’re amazing, it’s so nice to meet a athletes. I’m so glad that you had there.
This is awesome! My kids would love to meet professional athletes :)
What a great event. It must have been so fun to meet them.
Following their social media accounts is definitely a good way to stay in tune with appearances. You’re so fortunate to have met some great people.
Sounds like a lot of fun! My hiubbie is a cameraman for professional sports so we are lucky to have met a lot of athletes as well. Some great role models for the kids
This is an awesome event.
It’s always such a wonderful feeling when you get to do something that brings you such joy!
What great tips. We don’t really attend sporting events, my son is still a bit to young but my boyfriend has met many athletes.